SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES	3 Months Ended
Oct. 27, 2018
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES	SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Nature of Business United Natural Foods, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is a leading distributor of natural, organic, specialty, and conventional grocery and non-food products, and provider of support services. On October 22, 2018, the Company acquired all of the outstanding equity securities of SUPERVALU INC. (“Supervalu”); refer to Note 4. “Acquisitions” for further information. The Company sells its products primarily throughout the United States and Canada. Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain prior year amounts within the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, including the reclassification of Accrued compensation and benefits to present separately from Accrued expenses and other current liabilities, has been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation. These reclassifications had no impact on reported net income, cash flows, or total assets and liabilities. Unless otherwise indicated, references to the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income and the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements exclude all amounts related to discontinued operations. Refer to Note 17. “Discontinued Operations” for additional information, including accounting policies, about our discontinued operations. The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for interim financial information, including the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, certain information and note disclosures normally required in complete financial statements prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States have been condensed or omitted. In the Company’s opinion, these Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented. However, the results of operations for interim periods may not be indicative of the results that may be expected for a full year. These Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 28, 2018. Except as described below, there were no material changes in significant accounting policies from those described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 28, 2018. Net sales consist primarily of sales of natural, organic, specialty, conventional and non-food products to retailers, adjusted for customer volume discounts, returns, and allowances, and professional services revenue. Net sales also include amounts charged by the Company to customers for shipping and handling and fuel surcharges. The Company recognizes freight revenue related to transportation of its products when control of the product is transferred, which is typically upon delivery. The principal components of cost of sales include the amounts paid to suppliers for product sold, plus the cost of transportation necessary to bring the product to, or move product between, the Company’s distribution facilities, offset by consideration received from suppliers in connection with the purchase, transportation, or promotion of the suppliers’ products. Cost of sales also includes amounts incurred by the Company’s manufacturing subsidiary, United Natural Trading, LLC, which does business as Woodstock Farms Manufacturing, for inbound transportation costs. Operating expenses include salaries and wages, employee benefits, warehousing and delivery, selling, occupancy, insurance, administrative, share-based compensation, depreciation, and amortization expense. Other expense (income), net includes interest on outstanding indebtedness, including direct financing and capital lease obligations, net periodic benefit plan income, excluding service costs, interest income and miscellaneous income and expenses. As noted above, the Company includes shipping and handling fees billed to customers in net sales. Shipping and handling costs associated with inbound freight are generally recorded in cost of sales, whereas shipping and handling costs for receiving, selecting, quality assurance, and outbound transportation are recorded in operating expenses. Outbound shipping and handling costs, including allocated employee benefit expenses that are recorded in Operating expenses, totaled $174.0 million and $138.0 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 and 2018, respectively. The first quarter of fiscal 2019 included $14.3 million of expenses related to Supervalu shipping and handling costs. Inventories Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or market. For historical United Natural Foods, Inc. inventory, cost is determined using the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method. For a substantial portion of legacy Supervalu inventory, cost was determined using the last in, last out (“LIFO”) method, with the rest primarily determined using FIFO. Inventories acquired as part of the Supervalu acquisition were recorded at their fair market values as of the acquisition date. The Company is currently evaluating its combined inventory accounting policies and expects to finalize this evaluation during the second quarter of fiscal 2019. The impact of using LIFO for a portion of the Company’s inventory as of and for the first fiscal quarter did not have a material impact on the results of operations or the ending inventory balance as of and for the 13-week period ended October 27, 2018. Vendor Funds The Company receives funds from many of the vendors whose products it buys for resale. These vendor funds are provided to increase the sell-through of the related products. The Company receives vendor funds for a variety of merchandising activities; placement of the vendors’ products in its advertising; display of the vendors’ products in prominent locations in its stores; supporting the introduction of new products into its stores and distribution centers; exclusivity rights in certain categories; and to compensate for temporary price reductions offered to customers on products held for sale. The Company also receives vendor funds for buying activities such as volume commitment rebates, credits for purchasing products in advance of their need and cash discounts for the early payment of merchandise purchases. The majority of the vendor fund contracts have terms of less than a year, with a small proportion of the contracts longer than one year. The Company recognizes vendor funds for merchandising activities as a reduction of Cost of sales when the related products are sold. Vendor funds that have been earned as a result of completing the required performance under the terms of the underlying agreements but for which the product has not yet been sold are recognized as a reduction to the cost of inventory. Business Dispositions The Company reviews the presentation of planned business dispositions in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements based on the available information and events that have occurred. The review consists of evaluating whether the business meets the definition of a component for which the operations and cash flows are clearly distinguishable from the other components of the business, and if so, whether it is anticipated that after the disposal the cash flows of the component would be eliminated from continuing operations and whether the disposition represents a strategic shift that has a major effect on operations and financial results. In addition, the Company evaluates whether the business has met the criteria as a business held for sale. In order for a planned disposition to be classified as a business held for sale, the established criteria must be met as of the reporting date, including an active program to market the business and the expected disposition of the business within one year. Planned business dispositions are presented as discontinued operations when all the criteria described above are met. Operations of the business components meeting the discontinued operations requirements are presented within Income from discontinued operations, net of tax in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, and assets and liabilities of the business component planned to be disposed of are presented as separate lines within the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. See Note 17. “Discontinued Operations” for additional information. The carrying value of the business held for sale is reviewed for recoverability upon meeting the classification requirements. Evaluating the recoverability of the assets of a business classified as held for sale follows a defined order in which property and intangible assets subject to amortization are considered only after the recoverability of goodwill, indefinite lived intangible assets and other assets are assessed. After the valuation process is completed, the held for sale business is reported at the lower of its carrying value or fair value less cost to sell, and no additional depreciation or amortization expense is recognized. There are inherent judgments and estimates used in determining the fair value less costs to sell of a business and any impairment charges. The sale of a business can result in the recognition of a gain or loss that differs from that anticipated prior to closing. Benefit Plans The Company recognizes the funded status of its company-sponsored defined benefit plans, which it acquired in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 through the acquisition of Supervalu, in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and gains or losses and prior service costs or credits not yet recognized as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax, in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company sponsors pension and other postretirement plans in various forms covering employees who meet eligibility requirements. The determination of the Company’s obligation and related income or expense for Company-sponsored pension and other postretirement benefits is dependent, in part, on management’s selection of certain actuarial assumptions in calculating these amounts. These assumptions include, among other things, the discount rate, the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the rates of increase in healthcare and compensation costs. These assumptions are disclosed in Note 15. “Benefit Plans”. Actual results that differ from the assumptions are accumulated and amortized over future periods. The Company contributes to various multiemployer pension plans under collective bargaining agreements, primarily defined benefit pension plans. Pension expense for these plans is recognized as contributions are funded. See Note 15. “Benefit Plans” for additional information on participation in multiemployer plans. The Company also contributes to 401(k) retirement savings plans for its employees. Change in Accounting Policy In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, the Company changed its accounting policy for reporting book overdrafts in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Amounts previously reported as increase in bank overdrafts on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows represent outstanding checks issued but not yet presented to financial institutions for disbursement in excess of positive balances held at financial institutions, and as such represent book overdrafts. Book overdrafts are included within the Accounts payable balance in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The change in these book overdraft amounts were previously reported as financing activities cash flows on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, on a line item titled Increase in bank overdrafts. The Company has elected a preferable accounting policy presentation for classifying the change in book overdrafts from financing activities to operating activities, which resulted in the reclassification of prior period amounts to conform to the current period presentation. The Company concluded that operating activity classification is preferable, as book overdrafts do not result in financial institution borrowing or repayment activity at the end of respective reporting periods and the presentation presents a more accurate disclosure of its cash generation and consumption activities. The reclassification resulted in a decrease to cash used in operating activities of $31.9 million and a corresponding increase in cash provided by financing activities for the 13-week period ended October 28, 2017. The reclassification had no effect on previously reported Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, or Condensed Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity.

SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Nature of Business

United Natural Foods, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is a leading distributor of natural, organic, specialty, and conventional grocery and non-food products, and provider of support services. On October 22, 2018, the Company acquired all of the outstanding equity securities of SUPERVALU INC. (“Supervalu”); refer to Note 4. “Acquisitions” for further information. The Company sells its products primarily throughout the United States and Canada.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain prior year amounts within the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, including the reclassification of Accrued compensation and benefits to present separately from Accrued expenses and other current liabilities, has been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation. These reclassifications had no impact on reported net income, cash flows, or total assets and liabilities.

Unless otherwise indicated, references to the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income and the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements exclude all amounts related to discontinued operations. Refer to Note 17. “Discontinued Operations” for additional information, including accounting policies, about our discontinued operations.

The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for interim financial information, including the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, certain information and note disclosures normally required in complete financial statements prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States have been condensed or omitted. In the Company’s opinion, these Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented. However, the results of operations for interim periods may not be indicative of the results that may be expected for a full year. These Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 28, 2018. Except as described below, there were no material changes in significant accounting policies from those described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 28, 2018.

Net sales consist primarily of sales of natural, organic, specialty, conventional and non-food products to retailers, adjusted for customer volume discounts, returns, and allowances, and professional services revenue. Net sales also include amounts charged by the Company to customers for shipping and handling and fuel surcharges. The Company recognizes freight revenue related to transportation of its products when control of the product is transferred, which is typically upon delivery. The principal components of cost of sales include the amounts paid to suppliers for product sold, plus the cost of transportation necessary to bring the product to, or move product between, the Company’s distribution facilities, offset by consideration received from suppliers in connection with the purchase, transportation, or promotion of the suppliers’ products. Cost of sales also includes amounts incurred by the Company’s manufacturing subsidiary, United Natural Trading, LLC, which does business as Woodstock Farms Manufacturing, for inbound transportation costs. Operating expenses include salaries and wages, employee benefits, warehousing and delivery, selling, occupancy, insurance, administrative, share-based compensation, depreciation, and amortization expense. Other expense (income), net includes interest on outstanding indebtedness, including direct financing and capital lease obligations, net periodic benefit plan income, excluding service costs, interest income and miscellaneous income and expenses.

As noted above, the Company includes shipping and handling fees billed to customers in net sales. Shipping and handling costs associated with inbound freight are generally recorded in cost of sales, whereas shipping and handling costs for receiving, selecting, quality assurance, and outbound transportation are recorded in operating expenses. Outbound shipping and handling costs, including allocated employee benefit expenses that are recorded in Operating expenses, totaled $174.0 million and $138.0 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 and 2018, respectively. The first quarter of fiscal 2019 included $14.3 million of expenses related to Supervalu shipping and handling costs.

Inventories

Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or market. For historical United Natural Foods, Inc. inventory, cost is determined using the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method. For a substantial portion of legacy Supervalu inventory, cost was determined using the last in, last out (“LIFO”) method, with the rest primarily determined using FIFO. Inventories acquired as part of the Supervalu acquisition were recorded at their fair market values as of the acquisition date. The Company is currently evaluating its combined inventory accounting policies and expects to finalize this evaluation during the second quarter of fiscal 2019. The impact of using LIFO for a portion of the Company’s inventory as of and for the first fiscal quarter did not have a material impact on the results of operations or the ending inventory balance as of and for the 13-week period ended October 27, 2018.

Vendor Funds

The Company receives funds from many of the vendors whose products it buys for resale. These vendor funds are provided to increase the sell-through of the related products. The Company receives vendor funds for a variety of merchandising activities; placement of the vendors’ products in its advertising; display of the vendors’ products in prominent locations in its stores; supporting the introduction of new products into its stores and distribution centers; exclusivity rights in certain categories; and to compensate for temporary price reductions offered to customers on products held for sale. The Company also receives vendor funds for buying activities such as volume commitment rebates, credits for purchasing products in advance of their need and cash discounts for the early payment of merchandise purchases. The majority of the vendor fund contracts have terms of less than a year, with a small proportion of the contracts longer than one year.

The Company recognizes vendor funds for merchandising activities as a reduction of Cost of sales when the related products are sold. Vendor funds that have been earned as a result of completing the required performance under the terms of the underlying agreements but for which the product has not yet been sold are recognized as a reduction to the cost of inventory.

Business Dispositions

The Company reviews the presentation of planned business dispositions in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements based on the available information and events that have occurred. The review consists of evaluating whether the business meets the definition of a component for which the operations and cash flows are clearly distinguishable from the other components of the business, and if so, whether it is anticipated that after the disposal the cash flows of the component would be eliminated from continuing operations and whether the disposition represents a strategic shift that has a major effect on operations and financial results. In addition, the Company evaluates whether the business has met the criteria as a business held for sale. In order for a planned disposition to be classified as a business held for sale, the established criteria must be met as of the reporting date, including an active program to market the business and the expected disposition of the business within one year.

Planned business dispositions are presented as discontinued operations when all the criteria described above are met. Operations of the business components meeting the discontinued operations requirements are presented within Income from discontinued operations, net of tax in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, and assets and liabilities of the business component planned to be disposed of are presented as separate lines within the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. See Note 17. “Discontinued Operations” for additional information.

The carrying value of the business held for sale is reviewed for recoverability upon meeting the classification requirements. Evaluating the recoverability of the assets of a business classified as held for sale follows a defined order in which property and intangible assets subject to amortization are considered only after the recoverability of goodwill, indefinite lived intangible assets and other assets are assessed. After the valuation process is completed, the held for sale business is reported at the lower of its carrying value or fair value less cost to sell, and no additional depreciation or amortization expense is recognized.

There are inherent judgments and estimates used in determining the fair value less costs to sell of a business and any impairment charges. The sale of a business can result in the recognition of a gain or loss that differs from that anticipated prior to closing.

Benefit Plans

The Company recognizes the funded status of its company-sponsored defined benefit plans, which it acquired in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 through the acquisition of Supervalu, in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and gains or losses and prior service costs or credits not yet recognized as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax, in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company sponsors pension and other postretirement plans in various forms covering employees who meet eligibility requirements. The determination of the Company’s obligation and related income or expense for Company-sponsored pension and other postretirement benefits is dependent, in part, on management’s selection of certain actuarial assumptions in calculating these amounts. These assumptions include, among other things, the discount rate, the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the rates of increase in healthcare and compensation costs. These assumptions are disclosed in Note 15. “Benefit Plans”. Actual results that differ from the assumptions are accumulated and amortized over future periods.

The Company contributes to various multiemployer pension plans under collective bargaining agreements, primarily defined benefit pension plans. Pension expense for these plans is recognized as contributions are funded. See Note 15. “Benefit Plans” for additional information on participation in multiemployer plans.

The Company also contributes to 401(k) retirement savings plans for its employees.

Change in Accounting Policy

In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, the Company changed its accounting policy for reporting book overdrafts in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Amounts previously reported as increase in bank overdrafts on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows represent outstanding checks issued but not yet presented to financial institutions for disbursement in excess of positive balances held at financial institutions, and as such represent book overdrafts. Book overdrafts are included within the Accounts payable balance in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The change in these book overdraft amounts were previously reported as financing activities cash flows on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, on a line item titled Increase in bank overdrafts. The Company has elected a preferable accounting policy presentation for classifying the change in book overdrafts from financing activities to operating activities, which resulted in the reclassification of prior period amounts to conform to the current period presentation. The Company concluded that operating activity classification is preferable, as book overdrafts do not result in financial institution borrowing or repayment activity at the end of respective reporting periods and the presentation presents a more accurate disclosure of its cash generation and consumption activities. The reclassification resulted in a decrease to cash used in operating activities of $31.9 million and a corresponding increase in cash provided by financing activities for the 13-week period ended October 28, 2017. The reclassification had no effect on previously reported Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, or Condensed Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity.