GREENSBORO, North Carolina — Tom Caudle has been named President of Unifi, Inc., the producer of the REPREVE® brand of recycled polyester used in the contract/hospitality fabric market. Roger Berrier left Unifi as President in late April and his plans are not known at this time. Caudle has been with Unifi since 1982 in various manufacturing positions, most recently as Vice President of Manufacturing since October 2006 and served as Vice President of Global Operations since April 2003. At the same time, the company announced it will expand global availability of REPREVE® recycled fiber and other Premier Value-Added (PVA) yarns through a new division in Sri Lanka, Unifi Textiles Colombo Private Limited (UTCL). Based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the new expansion is expected to begin operations by the end of the third quarter in 2016. The expansion comes on the heels of Unifi’s announcement of new distribution channels in both Turkey and Taiwan, through KORTEKS and Sun Chemical, respectively. Upholstery/Decorative Fabrics make up 12% of Unifi’s business the company says. The category is experiencing slight growth, but less that 5% per year.  It is not growing at a faster rate than apparel, the largest category for Unifi and growing at a rate of 4% - 6% per year.