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PENSION PLANS
 12 Months Ended
Jul. 30, 2022
Compensation Related Costs [Abstract]  
PENSION PLANS PENSION PLANS
Company-Sponsored Pension Plans

The Company sponsored three defined benefit pension plans. Two of the plans are tax-qualified plans, one covering members of a union, which is frozen and participants no longer earn service credit, and the other covering nonunion associates, which was terminated in fiscal 2022. Benefits under the union plan are based on a fixed amount for each year of service, and benefits under the nonunion plan are based upon percentages of annual compensation. Funding for these plans is based on an analysis of the specific requirements and an evaluation of the assets and liabilities of each plan. The third plan is an unfunded, nonqualified plan providing supplemental pension benefits to certain executives.

Net periodic pension cost for the plans include the following components:
 20222021
Service cost$187 $216 
Interest cost on projected benefit obligation1,306 1,689 
Expected return on plan assets(1,258)(1,932)
Loss on settlement12,341 587 
Amortization of gains and losses335 588 
Net periodic pension cost$12,911 $1,148 
 
In April 2022, the Company terminated the Village Super Market, Inc. Employees’ Retirement Plan. Prior to termination, the Company made a $1,485 contribution to fully fund the plan. Plan assets were liquidated to fund lump sum distributions to participants of $37,289 and purchase annuity contracts totaling $14,930 with an insurance company for all participants who did not elect a lump sum distribution. No benefit obligation or plan assets related to the Village Super Market, Inc. Employees’ Retirement Plan remain as of July 30, 2022. The Company recognized a $12,296 pre-tax settlement charge as a result of the termination, including a $10,856 non-cash charge for unrecognized losses within accumulated other comprehensive loss as of the termination date.
Additionally, the Company recognized a settlement loss of $45 and $587 in fiscal 2022 and 2021, respectively, for plans where benefits paid exceeded the sum of the service cost and interest cost components of net periodic pension cost.
The changes in benefit obligations and the reconciliation of the funded status of the Company’s plans to the consolidated balance sheets were as follows:
 20222021
Changes in Benefit Obligation:  
Benefit obligation at beginning of year$73,229 $76,849 
Service cost187 216 
Interest cost1,306 1,689 
Benefits paid(676)(796)
Settlement(54,742)(2,563)
Actuarial loss(11,791)(2,166)
Benefit obligation at end of year$7,513 $73,229 
Changes in Plan Assets:  
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year$63,047 $70,683 
Actual return on plan assets(6,170)(4,277)
Employer contributions1,485 — 
Benefits paid(676)(796)
Settlements paid(54,742)(2,563)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year2,944 63,047 
Funded status at end of year$4,569 $10,182 
Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets:  
Pension liabilities4,569 10,182 
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (income), net of income taxes(1,962)9,833 
Amounts included in Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (pre-tax):  
Net actuarial loss$(2,872)$14,167 
 
The Company expects approximately $557 of the net actuarial gain, excluding the impact of any potential plan settlements, to be recognized as a component of net periodic benefit costs in fiscal 2023.

The accumulated benefit obligations of the plans were $7,513 and $71,931 at July 30, 2022 and July 31, 2021, respectively.  The following information is presented for those plans with an accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets:
 20222021
Projected benefit obligation$7,513 $73,229 
Accumulated benefit obligation7,513 71,931 
Fair value of plan assets2,944 63,047 
 
Weighted average assumptions used to determine benefit obligations and net periodic pension cost for the Company’s defined benefit plans were as follows:
 20222021
Assumed discount rate — net periodic pension cost2.44 %2.26 %
Assumed discount rate — benefit obligation3.77 %2.44 %
Assumed rate of increase in compensation levels4.50 %4.50 %
Expected rate of return on plan assets5.25 %3.36 %
 
Investments in the pension trusts are overseen by the trustees of the plans, who are officers of Village. The Company utilizes a liability-driven investment ("LDI") strategy. A LDI strategy focuses on maintaining a close to fully-funded status over the long-term with minimal funded status risk.  This is achieved by investing more of the plan assets in fixed income instruments to more closely match the duration of the plan liability.  The investment allocation to fixed income instruments will increase as each plans' funded status increases. The target allocations for plan assets are 30-50% equity securities, 50-70% fixed income securities and 0-10% cash. Asset allocations are reviewed periodically and appropriate rebalancing is performed.

Equity securities include investments in large-cap, small-cap and mid-cap companies located both in and outside the United States. Fixed income securities include U.S. treasuries, mortgage-backed securities and corporate bonds of companies from diversified industries. Investments in securities are made through mutual funds. In addition, the terminated Village Super Market, Inc. Employees’ Retirement Plan plan held Class A common stock of Village in the amount of $512 at July 31, 2021.

Risk management is accomplished through diversification across asset classes and fund strategies, multiple investment portfolios and investment guidelines. The plans do not allow for investments in derivative instruments.

The fair value of the pension assets were as follows:
 July 30, 2022July 31, 2021
Asset CategoryAssets Measured at NAVTotalLevel 1Assets Measured at NAVTotal
Cash$— $— $83 $— $83 
Equity securities:    
Company stock— — 512 — 512 
Mutual/Collective Trust Funds -
U.S. (1)		915 915 — 1,174 1,174 
Mutual/Collective Trust Funds - International (1)301 301 — 387 387 
Fixed income securities:   
Mutual/Collective Trust Funds - Fixed Income (1)1,728 1,728 — 60,891 60,891 
Total$2,944 $2,944 $595 $62,452 $63,047 
 
(1)Includes pools of investments that are measured at fair value using the Net Asset Value (NAV) per share (or its equivalent) practical expedient. The NAV is based on the underlying net assets owned by the fund and the relative interest of each participating investor in the fair value of the underlying assets. The underlying investments are classified as either level 1 or 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

Based on actuarial assumptions, estimated future defined benefit payments, which may be significantly impacted by participant elections related to retirement dates and forms of payment, are as follows:
Fiscal Year 
2023$170 
2024180 
2025160 
2026190 
20276,080 
2028 - 2031930 

The Company expects contributions to its defined benefit pension plans to be immaterial in fiscal 2023.
Multi-Employer Plans

The Company contributes to three multi-employer pension plans under collective bargaining agreements covering union-represented employees.  These plans provide benefits to participants that are generally based on a fixed amount for each year of service.  Based on the most recent information available, certain of these multi-employer plans are underfunded. The amount of any increase or decrease in Village’s required contributions to these multi-employer pension plans will depend upon the outcome of collective bargaining, actions taken by trustees who manage the plans, government regulations and the actual return on assets held in the plans, among other factors.

The risks of participating in multi-employer pension plans are different from the risks of participating in single-employer pension plans in the following respects:

•Assets contributed to a multi-employer plan by one employer may be used to provide benefits to employees of other participating employers.
•If a participating employer stops contributing to the plan, the unfunded obligations of the plan allocable to such withdrawing employer may be borne by the remaining participating employers.
•If the Company stops participating in some of its multi-employer pension plans, the Company may be required to pay those plans an amount based on its allocable share of the underfunded status of the plan, referred to as a withdrawal liability.
The Company’s participation in these plans is outlined in the following tables.  The “EIN / Pension Plan Number” column provides the Employer Identification Number (“EIN”) and the three-digit pension plan number.  The most recent “Pension Protection Act Zone Status” available in 2021 and 2020 is for the plan’s year-end at December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively, unless otherwise noted.  Among other factors, generally, plans in the red zone are less than 65 percent funded, plans in the yellow zone are between 65 and 80 percent funded and plans in the green zone are at least 80 percent funded.  The “FIP/RP Status Pending / Implemented” column indicates plans for which a funding improvement plan (“FIP”) or a rehabilitation plan (“RP”) is either pending or has been implemented. 
 
  Pension Protection Act Zone StatusFIP/RP Status
Pending
/ Implemented		Contributions for the
year ended (5)		 Expiration
 date of
Collective-
Bargaining
Agreement
 
Pension Fund
 
EIN / Pension Plan Number
20212020July 30,
2022		July 31,
2021		Surcharge
 Imposed (6)
Pension Plan of Local 464A (1)22-6051600-001GreenGreenN/A$808 $874 N/AAugust 2025
UFCW Local 1262 & Employers Pension Fund (2), (4)22-6074414-001RedRedImplemented2,745 2,721 NoOctober 2023
UFCW Regional Pension Plan (3), (4)16-6062287-074RedRedImplemented$1,288 $1,260 NoJune 2024
Total Contributions    $4,841 $4,855   
 
(1)The information for this fund was obtained from the Form 5500 filed for the plan’s year-end at December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.
(2)The information for this fund was obtained from the Form 5500 filed for the plan’s year-end at December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019.
(3)The information for this fund was obtained from the Form 5500 filed for the plan’s year-end at September 30, 2021 and September 30, 2020.
(4)This plan has elected to utilize special amortization provisions provided under the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010.  There were no changes to the plan’s zone status as a result of this election.
(5)The Company’s contributions represent more than 5% of the total contributions received by each applicable pension fund for all periods presented.
(6)Under the Pension Protection Act, a surcharge may be imposed when employers make contributions under a collective bargaining agreement that is not in compliance with a rehabilitation plan.  As of July 30, 2022, the collective bargaining agreements under which the Company was making contributions were in compliance with rehabilitation plans adopted by each applicable pension fund.

Other Multi-Employer Benefit Plans

The Company also contributes to various other multi-employer benefit plans that provide health and welfare benefits to active and retired participants. Total contributions made by the Company to these other multi-employer benefit plans were $32,847 and $33,270 in fiscal 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Defined Contribution Plans

The Company sponsors a 401(k) savings plan for certain eligible associates. Company contributions under that plan, which are based on specified percentages of associate contributions, were $2,054 and $1,791 in fiscal 2022 and 2021, respectively.   The Company also contributes to union sponsored defined contribution plans for certain eligible associates.  Company contributions under these plans were $2,944 and $3,296 in fiscal 2022 and 2021, respectively.