United Natural Foods, Inc. Scales Case Management with Ontic
Following rapid growth through acquisition, UNFI partnered with Ontic to centralize security workflows, scale operations, and demonstrate measurable business value across more than 50 distribution centers.
Industry
Grocery Wholesale and Distribution
Company Scale
Fortune 500
Program
Investigations, Incident Management, and Threat Intelligence
Use Cases
POI Tracking, Loss Prevention, Workplace Violence, Fraud Detection
At a Glance
Turning security into measurable business value.
Challenge
Rapid organizational growth made spreadsheets, manual research, and increased incident volume unsustainable.
Solution
Ontic centralized investigations, case management, threat intelligence, and reporting in a single platform.
Impact
UNFI demonstrated measurable recovery and cost avoidance while scaling its Corporate Security and Asset Protection program.
Products Used
The Challenge
After an acquisition that nearly doubled the company's size, the Corporate Security team at United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) began training leaders to recognize concerning behaviors and signals related to potential workplace violence risks. The new awareness, coupled with heightened internal and external stress factors, led to a significant increase in reported incidents and the need for centralized POI tracking and investigations.
Patching together research and investigations using shared spreadsheets and paper-based processes was no longer sustainable as activity increased. As a Corporate Security and Asset Protection team of four covering over 50 distribution centers and multiple corporate office locations, they quickly recognized the need to scale case management with a flexible digital solution.
The Solution
A connected platform for investigations, case management, and threat intelligence
As the Corporate Security and Asset Protection program evolved, Ontic provided the flexibility to support new workflows, demonstrate business impact, and continue scaling alongside the team.
Proactive workplace violence management
With Ontic, the team actively monitors threats and manages workplace violence concerns to ensure actions are based on data-driven decisions and emerging patterns are closely monitored.
One platform for investigations and research
In addition to workplace violence prevention, the team investigates fraud and theft across distribution centers and corporate offices. Ontic's flexible platform and integrated research tools enable the team to manage investigations while tracking cost avoidance and recovery.
Measuring the business impact of security
The team conducts an average of 200 investigations every six months and provides quarterly reports to UNFI’s executive team. Using Ontic's reporting and metrics, they communicate recovery, cost avoidance, and program performance in business terms.
A platform that grows with the program
According to Rich Duehn, UNFI’s Corporate Security Manager, the team was originally attracted to Ontic for case management and threat monitoring. They quickly realized that Ontic could be used for much more and that the strength of the partnership is central to continued success. As their program has evolved, UNFI’s Corporate Security and Asset Protection team has leaned on their dedicated success team at Ontic to assist with platform customizations to support additional needs and to ensure that they can use even more platform features as their program matures.
“The metrics we track in Ontic and report on have supported the growth of our team from 4 to 16 because we can consistently show how our work mitigates workplace violence concerns before events occur.”
Steve Slyter, Sr. Director of Corporate Security and Asset Protection
The Impact
Measurable results that support continued growth
UNFI uses Ontic to demonstrate the measurable value of its Corporate Security and Asset Protection program. From recovery and cost avoidance to executive reporting, the team can quantify its impact while continuing to expand its capabilities.
Recovery and cost avoidance
Using Ontic, the team tracks recovery and cost avoidance across investigations. Between FY2020 and FY2023, recovery and cost avoidance increased from $500,000 to $4.5 million.
Executive-ready reporting
The team conducts an average of 200 investigations every six months and delivers quarterly reports that communicate security's impact in business terms.
Built to scale
The metrics tracked in Ontic helped support the growth of the Corporate Security team from four to 16 employees, demonstrating the value of the program as responsibilities expanded.
A trusted partnership
As UNFI's program continues to mature, Ontic remains a trusted partner, helping the team customize the platform and expand into new use cases.
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