Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. United Natural Foods (UNFI) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Staples sector should help us answer this question.United Natural Foods is one of 172 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #6 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.The Zacks Rank emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. UNFI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for UNFI's full-year earnings has moved 94.73% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.According to our latest data, UNFI has moved about 126.26% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have lost an average of 10.70%. This means that United Natural Foods is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.To break things down more, UNFI belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 41 individual companies and currently sits at #59 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 8.22% so far this year, meaning that UNFI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.UNFI will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.