United Natural Foods to Dedicate Largest Solar Electric System in New England

DAYVILLE, Conn., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Natural Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq: UNFI) along with Solar Works, Inc., the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and several Connecticut politicians, are scheduled to dedicate the installation of the largest solar electric system in New England on December 13, 2007. The 550-kilowatt STC solar photovoltaic system, installed at UNFI's natural foods distribution facility in Dayville, Conn., is expected to generate approximately 600,000 kilowatt hours of clean energy annually, enough to power more than 67 average New England homes for one year. The system output will avoid over 14 million pounds (over 6,350 metric tons) of carbon dioxide over the 25-year life of the system.

Milestone Clean Energy Project

United Natural Foods is one of the country's largest distributors of natural and organic foods and is partnering with the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF), a ratepayer fund administered by Connecticut Innovations Inc. The $1.9 million grant from CCEF is provided through the fund's On-Site Renewable Distributed Generation Program. The development and installation of the solar electric system has been managed by Solar Works, Inc., a leading renewable energy systems integrator in the Northeast U.S. with over 800 solar energy installations and 25 years of experience.

The Dayville, Conn. facility serves as both United Natural Foods' corporate headquarters, as well as a regional distribution center in the Company's nationwide distribution network. The facility employs more than 500 people and serves customers in both the New England area and New York. United Natural Foods has the largest warehouse capacity of any distributor
in the natural products industry and, with the recent addition of the Sarasota, Florida location it has more than 3.8 million square feet of space at 17 distribution centers nationwide.