Press Releases

LOS ANGELES —Unified Western Grocers, Inc., the largest retailer-owned wholesale grocery cooperative in the western United States, announced its new management team last week.

The personnel announcement comes on the heels of the firm's recent annual meeting in Portland, Ore., which was the first since Certified Grocers of California, Ltd., Los Angeles, and United Grocers, Inc., Portland, Ore. merged last fall to create Unified Western Grocers, Inc.

The management team at Unified Western Grocers includes:

• Alfred A. Plamann, President and Chief Executive Officer. Formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of Certified Grocers of California, Plamann was named to the top post of Unified Western Grocers by the Boards of Directors of both companies several months prior to the merger, which was finalized on September 29, 1999.

• Robert M. Ling, Jr., Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Formerly Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Certified Grocers, Ling oversees Unified's legal affairs and directs the company's human resources, labor relations and real estate operations.

• Richard J. Martin, Executive Vice President, Finance & Administration and Chief Financial Officer. Formerly Senior Vice President, Finance & Administration and Chief Financial Officer of Certified Grocers, Martin oversees all financial matters for Unified and supervises the company's accounting, information services and administrative functions.

• Charles J. Pilliter, Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing. Formerly, Senior Vice President and President, Northern California Division, Certified Grocers, Pilliter oversees Unified's entire sales and marketing operations, including the company's newly created regional sales divisions for Oregon, Northern California and Southern California. In addition, Pilliter will oversee the Company's perishables business and Southern California dairy and bakery manufacturing facilities.

• Harley J. Delano, Senior Vice President, Retail Development, and President, Sav Max Foods. Delano, former president of Cala Co., a division of Ralphs Grocery Co., directs Unified's retail development and support functions. In addition, Delano oversees the management and operation of Unified's retail store operations, which include the Sav Max supermarket chain headquartered in Modesto, Calif.

• George D. Gardner, Senior Vice President, Non Foods and Specialty Products. Formerly Vice President, Non Foods and Specialty Products for Certified Grocers, Gardner directs Unified's specialty foods subsidiary, Grocers Specialty Company, and oversees all operations in the specialty gourmet, ethnic, health, diet, candy and general merchandise categories.

• Philip S. Smith, Senior Vice President, Procurement. Formerly Vice President, Procurement for Certified Grocers, Smith directs all buying and procurement activities for Unified.

• Robin L. Thomas, Senior Vice President and President, Oregon Division. Formerly Vice President/Sales for United Grocers, Thomas directs sales and marketing functions in Unified's Oregon Division.

• Rodney L. Van Bebber, Senior Vice President, Distribution. Van Bebber joins Unified from Ralphs Grocery Company, where he was Group Vice President of Distribution. He is responsible for the operations of all of Unified's distribution facilities, as well as all transportation functions.

• William O. Coté, Vice President, Controller. Formerly Director of Certified Grocers' Accounting Department, Coté is responsible for the accounting process and controls throughout the company, including financial analysis, financial reporting, outside audits and corporate tax matters.

• Luis De la Mata, Vice President and President, Southern California Division. De la Mata joins Unified from CPC International, a division of Bestfoods, Inc. located in Venezuela, where he was Marketing and Sales Director. De la Mata directs sales and marketing functions in Unified's Southern California Division.

• Stanley G. Eggink, Vice President, Transportation. Formerly General Manager, Corporate Transportation for Certified Grocers, Eggink is responsible for Unified's transportation function and operations, facilities and facilities maintenance.

• Joseph L. Falvey, Vice President and President, Northern California Division. Falvey joins Unified from Nalley Fine Foods, a firm that had recently purchased a food brokerage company he co-owned, Signature Sales & Marketing. He directs the sales and marketing functions in Unified's Northern California Division.

• Carolyn S. Fox, Vice President, and President of United Resources, Inc. and Grocers Capital Co., both of which are subsidiaries of Unified. Formerly President of United Resources, Inc. for United Grocers, Fox is responsible for overseeing the operations of both subsidiaries, which include managing certain assets held for sale by the Company and providing financing services to member retailers.

• Donald E. Gilpin, Vice President, Human Resources. Formerly Executive Director of Certified Grocers' Human Resources Department, Gilpin is responsible for all human resources activities throughout the company, including labor relations, benefits and other human relations issues.

• Gary Hammett, Vice President, Real Estate. Hammett re-joins Unified from Hardee's Food Systems, Inc., where he served as Senior Vice President, Development. In addition to directing the company's real estate activities, Hammett is responsible for providing assistance to members in the areas of site selection, lease negotiations, demographic studies, store planning and engineering.

• Gary S. Herman, Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Herman joins Unified from Ralph's Grocery Company where he was Vice President, Management Information Systems. Herman's responsibilities include overseeing the information technology, information services and retail technology areas of Unified.

• Joseph A. Ney, Vice President, Insurance. Formerly President of Grocers and Merchants Insurance Service (GMIS) for Certified Grocers, Ney heads Unified's insurance subsidiary, which provides a wide range of insurance products and services to the company's retail members and customers.

• David A. Woodward, Vice President and Treasurer. Formerly Treasurer of Certified Grocers, Woodward's responsibilities include maintaining the company's banking relationships and lines of credit.

Unified Western Grocers, Inc. is a retailer-owned grocery distributor that supplies independent retailers throughout the Western United States. Unified and its subsidiaries, which generated approximately $3.2 billion in sales during the 1999 fiscal year, offer independent retailers all the resources they need to compete in the supermarket industry.