PENSION PLANS

12 Months Ended

Jul. 27, 2024

Compensation Related Costs [Abstract]

BENEFIT PLANS

BENEFIT PLANS

Multi-Employer Pension 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 2023 and 2022 is for the plan’s year-end at December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, 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 Status		FIP/RP Status Pending / Implemented	Contributions for the year ended (5)					Expiration  date of Collective- Bargaining Agreement
Pension Fund	EIN / Pension Plan Number	2023	2022		July 27, 2024		July 29, 2023		Surcharge  Imposed (6)
Pension Plan of Local 464A (1)	22-6051600-001	Green	Green	N/A	$	903	$	887	N/A	August 2025
UFCW Local 1262 & Employers Pension Fund (2), (4)	22-6074414-001	Red	Red	Implemented	2,656		2,671		No	October 2027
UFCW Regional Pension Plan (3), (4)	16-6062287-074	Red	Red	Implemented	$	1,330	$	1,305	No	June 2024
Total Contributions					$	4,889	$	4,863

(1)The information for this fund was obtained from the Form 5500 filed for the plan’s year-end at December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

(2)The information for this fund was obtained from the Form 5500 filed for the plan’s year-end at December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021.

(3)The information for this fund was obtained from the Form 5500 filed for the plan’s year-end at September 30, 2023 and September 30, 2022.

(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 27, 2024, 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 $37,216 and $33,741 in fiscal 2024 and 2023, 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 $2,028 and $1,865 in fiscal 2024 and 2023, respectively.   The Company also contributes to union sponsored defined contribution plans for certain eligible associates.  Company contributions under these plans were $3,339 and $3,118 in fiscal 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Defined Benefit Plans

In fiscal 2024, the Company sponsored two defined benefit pension plans. One of the plans is a tax-qualified plan covering members of a union, which is frozen and participants no longer earn service credit. 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 second plan is an unfunded, nonqualified plan providing supplemental pension benefits to certain executives. Pension liabilities were $5,113 and $4,893 as of July 27, 2024 and July 29, 2023, respectively, and net periodic pension cost for the plans was immaterial for both fiscal 2024 and 2023.