If you're looking for a code on your UNFI remittance advice, you won't find one. The advice has a reference number and a dollar amount and that's it. The codes are in a separate file that UNFI emails you, and only if you asked for it.
This page is written from those files. Everything below is a value that actually appears in the backup, not a reconstruction of what UNFI's documentation says should appear.
Where the codes live
Email supplierdeductiondisputemgmt@unfi.com and ask to be added to the weekly MCB document distribution. After that the backup arrives as a ZIP named for your remit code, and inside it there's a CSV and a TXT with the same numbers. The CSV is the data. The TXT is a printed version of the same chargebacks, and if you load both into a tracker you'll count everything twice.
The column you want is MCB Category. That's the code. The rest of the row tells you which store, which item, which distribution center, how many units, what percentage was taken, and which authorization it was billed under.
The codes
| Code | Type | What it is | Check it against |
|---|---|---|---|
| SGP-S Shelf Sales | Promo | Per-unit money passed to the retailer's shelf price. Usually the biggest block of lines in any weekly file. | Deal sheet. Rate, dates, retailer. |
| SGP-E EDLP | Promo | Everyday low price. A standing reduction rather than a dated event, so it bills again every week it's live. | Deal sheet, and whether the program was ever switched off. |
| SGP-T Turnover Orders | Promo | Deals written at the retailer and turned over to UNFI to fill. | Deal sheet plus whoever wrote the order. |
| SGP-O Opening Store Discount | Promo | Discount on the first fill for a store that just opened. UNFI issues a separate code per opening store. | Whether you agreed to fund new store openings at all. |
| A - Customer Specific Ad | Promo | One retailer's ad event. | The ad calendar you signed, not the general promo plan. |
| Returned Goods | Returns | Product credited back to the retailer. | Your returns allowance. If a flat allowance already covers this, you're paying twice. |
| Supermarket Shelf Worn | Reclaim | Store-level reclaim for product that sat too long. Arrives as hundreds of small lines on the monthly quality file. | The monthly total, not the lines. See below. |
| Vendor Compliance | Fine | Routing, labeling, pallet or ASN violations against UNFI's vendor requirements. | The supporting report. If they didn't send one, ask for it before paying. |
| ShortShipped | Shortage | Cases UNFI says never arrived. This is a shortage claim wearing a promo label. | BOL and signed proof of delivery. |
| Additional Handling | Fee | Extra work at the distribution center. | Your supplier agreement. Usually contractual. |
| Merchandise Credit | Credit | A credit issued against merchandise, often tied to a pricing correction. | The original invoice and the corrected price. |
A note on the SGP- prefix. It isn't applied consistently. You'll see SGP-S Shelf Sales and S Shelf Sales in the same account, sometimes in the same month, and they're the same program. If you pivot this column in a spreadsheet without normalizing the prefix first, your shelf sales total splits into two rows and both look smaller than they are. The same goes for SGP-E and E EDLP, and for the turnover and opening store codes.
Two of these aren't promotions
ShortShipped is a shortage claim. Vendor Compliance is a fine. They arrive in the promo file and they look like promo lines, but neither one has anything to do with your deal sheet. Brands that treat the whole file as trade spend book real shortage claims as marketing and never dispute them.
Reading the reference number
The reference on your advice isn't random. The letters in front tell you which family the chargeback belongs to, and the digits after them are a date.
Weekly promo chargebacks carry the week ending date, six digits, MMDDYY. It's always a Saturday. Once you know that, you can pair any weekly deduction to the right backup file without opening anything. Monthly quality chargebacks work differently and catch people out: the file is named for the period it covers, but the deduction is dated by the run date printed inside the file. Build the number from the run date column or you'll go looking for a deduction that doesn't exist.
One more thing about the weekly files. Promo chargebacks and show order chargebacks arrive as separate emails with different subject lines. They're different chargebacks that often land on the same check. Don't net them against each other and don't assume the first one you got is the only one.
Reclaim codes aren't worth working line by line
Supermarket Shelf Worn deserves its own warning because it's where brands waste the most effort. A monthly quality file runs to hundreds of lines and nearly all of them carry that one reason. Each line is worth roughly one case. There's no dispute packet in there that pays for the hour it takes to build.
Watch the monthly total against your unsaleables allowance and against the previous few months. If it jumps without your volume moving, or a retailer you don't ship to shows up, or the same credit memo number appears twice, that's worth a question. Otherwise accept it and spend the time on the promo codes, where the money actually is.
The column nobody uses
Every promo line in the backup carries an Auth # and an Auth Name. That's the authorization the chargeback claims to be taken under. It turns a dispute from an argument into a lookup. Sort by Auth #, and the blanks float to the top. A line billed under no authorization, or under a deal you never signed, is the cleanest thing you'll dispute all month.
The file also prints the rate, the chargeback amount and the invoice amount it was calculated on. Three numbers that have to agree. That check needs no second document and catches rate errors that nobody is looking for, because most people never open the file at all.
Common questions
Where do I find UNFI deduction codes?
Not on the remittance advice. The advice gives you a reference number and an amount. The codes live in the weekly and monthly backup files UNFI emails you, in a column called MCB Category. You have to ask to be added to that distribution first.
What are the UNFI MCB Category codes?
The ones that show up most are SGP-S Shelf Sales, SGP-E EDLP, SGP-T Turnover Orders, SGP-O Opening Store Discount, A - Customer Specific Ad, Returned Goods, Vendor Compliance, ShortShipped, Additional Handling and Merchandise Credit.
What does SGP mean on a UNFI chargeback?
It's the prefix on the shelf-price program codes. SGP-S is shelf sales, SGP-E is everyday low price, SGP-T is turnover orders, SGP-O is an opening store discount. The same programs also appear without the prefix, so S Shelf Sales and SGP-S Shelf Sales are the same thing.
Are all UNFI deduction codes promotional?
No, and this trips people up. ShortShipped is a shortage claim and Vendor Compliance is a fine. Both arrive in the same file as the promo codes and both get checked against shipping paperwork, not your deal sheet.
How do I read a UNFI deduction reference number?
The leading letters tell you the family and the digits after them are a date. Weekly promo references carry the week ending date as MMDDYY, and it's always a Saturday. Monthly quality files are dated by the run date inside the file, not by the month in the filename.
Which UNFI deduction codes should I dispute?
The promo codes, when the authorization number doesn't match a deal you signed or the dates fall outside it. ShortShipped, when your BOL and proof of delivery say otherwise. Reclaim and returns are usually valid and cost more to fight than they return.
Related reading
For how the MCB family works end to end, read what is a UNFI MCB. For how UNFI compares to KeHE on windows and paperwork, read the UNFI and KeHE survival guide. For posting all of this against your remittances, read the UNFI cash application guide.