PROVIDENCE, RI. — United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) has named Louis Martin to the newly created role of chief strategy and transformation officer, with oversight of the company’s long-term growth strategy, effective March 21. He will report to Sandy Douglas, chief executive officer of UNFI.

In his new role Mr. Martin will oversee UNFI’s revenue management, M&A, continuous improvement, and project management office. In addition, he will partner to further drive and enable UNFI’s “Fuel the Future” strategy efforts by unleashing new capabilities around supply chain, technology, data standardization and automation acceleration.

Mr. Martin will join UNFI from The Coca-Cola Co., where he currently serves as president of the global Walmart customer team. During his 15-year career at Coca-Cola he has held a variety of roles, including senior vice president of system evolution and director of strategic initiatives and capability. Prior to Coca-Cola he was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Co. Earlier, he was a regional manager at ED&F Man, where he ran a commodity trading and distribution company based out of Central America.

He received a bachelor’s degree in English at Princeton University and a master’s degree in finance and management at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

“As we execute and evolve our ‘Fuel the Future’ strategy, we are committed to building on both existing and new business platforms to deliver long-term, sustainable growth,” Mr. Douglas said. “The creation of this new role reflects our confidence in the value UNFI is positioned to generate across our entire ecosystem, including customers, suppliers, partners, and investors. Louis is a seasoned leader with both a strategic and an operations background. His addition to our team will help drive UNFI’s next chapter of growth.”