This was a big year for leadership pivots, which often signaled a strategy shift within major retailers and specialty brands. As the economic landscape changed, so did CEOs at major companies. Below are some of the transitions that impacted the specialty food industry.
Retailer Leadership Transitions
At the beginning of the year, Mike Witynski, CEO of Dollar Tree who had been with the company for over a decade, stepped down and was replaced by executive chairman Rick Dreiling, who took the role on January 29.
“The opportunity to work with the talented and dedicated team at Dollar Tree has been the most rewarding of my career,” said Witynski, in a statement. “During this especially dynamic period, we made the historic and consequential move to ‘break the dollar,’ and also rose to the historic opportunity to retool the Company’s leadership ranks to face the challenges ahead with fresh eyes.”
A few months later, Laxman Narasimhan replaced founder and former CEO Howard Schultz as CEO of Starbucks. Between 1987 and 2023, Schultz served as CEO on three separate occasions, helping navigate major changes each time.
Upon Schultz’s return in 2022, Starbucks unveiled a company-wide reinvention strategy and continued to deliver on more than $1 billion in investments in retail partners and stores for prioritized areas such as increased pay and sick time accrual, new financial well-being benefits, modernized training and collaboration, store innovation, and equipment and the celebration of coffee, according to Starbucks.
“The foundation Howard has laid ... is truly remarkable, and I am honored to have the opportunity to build on this deep heritage,” said Narasimhan, in a statement.
In April, Canada-based Loblaws appointed Per Bank as president and CEO, effective in the first quarter of 2024. The news follows a global talent search initiated in August 2022 in anticipation of Robert Sawyer’s planned retirement as Loblaw’s COO at the end of 2023.
Leadership remained stagnant for much of the summer until August when C&S Wholesale Grocers and Giant Eagle both announced that their respective CEOs would depart.
C&S announced that CEO Bob Palmer retired on October 2. In his place, current COO Eric Winn took his reigns.
Since his appointment in October 2020, Palmer has been responsible for the company strategy, growth plan, customer satisfaction, and day-to-day operations, according to C&S.
“Bob was appointed CEO during extraordinary times—the pandemic and the resulting impact on our industry. Bob was critical in effectively leading C&S through these challenges and driving long-term growth,” said Rick Cohen, chairman at C&S Wholesale Grocers, in a statement.
C&S’s decision comes around the time it was in talks to purchase over 400 stores from Kroger and Albertsons as part of the companies’ divestiture plan to ensure the merger went through.
For Giant Eagle, Bill Artman transitioned to a full-time CEO after being named the company’s interim CEO in March. Artman has over 40 years of experience with the company and has assumed many leadership roles during his time.
While embroiled in a transitional period overall, Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer left the company after less than three years in the position. Lead independent director Ginger Graham was appointed interim CEO until Tim Wentworth took the permanent role a few months after.
The change comes as Walgreens seeks to reposition itself as a healthcare provider, having acquired Summit Health City MD and investing in VillageMD as it works to add primary care centers to its stores. After the final leadership transition, Walgreens revealed intentions to lay off five percent of its Chicago-based corporate workforce.
A Walgreens spokesperson, Fraser Engerman, said that the layoffs would “streamline [Walgreens’] operations and focus on our critical priorities.” The company had posted a $6.4 billion loss in the first nine months of FY2022, largely due to legal settlements attributed to Walgreen’s role in the opioid pandemic which totaled $5.4 billion in charges.
In October, former CEO of Dollar, Todd Vasos, returned to the role, succeeding Jeff Owen. Vasos previously served as CEO from June 2015 until November 2022.
“The Board has tremendous respect for Jeff and greatly appreciates his many contributions to the Company, especially during his long tenure leading our retail operations,” said Michael Calbert, chairman of Dollar General’s board, in a statement. “However, at this time the Board has determined that a change in leadership is necessary to restore stability and confidence in the company moving forward.”
Later in the month, Costco also shared that CEO Craig Jelinek will step down at the end of the year, replaced by Ron Vachris, current president and COO. The announcement is the culmination of the long-standing succession plan that Jelinek has discussed with the board, according to Costco.
In November, UNFI appointed Andre Persaud as CEO of retail, reporting to UNFI CEO and president Sandy Douglas. Persaud was hired to lead the company’s two retail banners, Minnesota-based Cub Foods and Maryland-based Shoppers Food Warehouse.
“Andre is a proven leader with a demonstrated track record of success across a range of retail organizations,” said Douglas in a statement.
Most recently, discount grocer Save A Lot named interim CEO Fred Boehler as permanent CEO earlier in December following the departure of Leon Bergmann on October 31.
“Fred’s deep expertise in the industry and his understanding of wholesale and logistics is particularly powerful for the Save A Lot brand following its shift to focus to operate as a licensed wholesaler,” said Mike Motz, chairman of the board at Save A Lot, in a statement.
After selling its last retail locations earlier in the year to Leevers Supermarkets, Save A Lot transitioned its operations from retailer to wholesaler.
“As we’ve made a strategic shift to become a licensed wholesaler, it’s clear that our long-term growth momentum must be rooted in the success of our strong network of retail partners,” said former CEO Bergmann in a statement about the transition.
Industry Leadership Transitions
Across the specialty food industry, leaders also took influential roles that carried deep implications for their respective niches.
At the start of the year, Specialty Food Association board member and co-founder of Hella Cocktail Co. Jomaree Pinkard transitioned to chairman of Hella Cocktail Co. and assumed the position of Pronghorn's CEO and managing director. This decision coincided with Pronghorn making a public capital investment in Hella Cocktail Co.
Pronghorn is a company dedicated to expanding diversity within the spirits industry.
In April, the Upcycled Food Association announced that interim CEO Angie Crone has transitioned to permanent CEO. Under her guidance, the organization's membership grew 38 percent and its flagship program, Upcycled Certified, doubled to include 374 certified products and ingredients.
The next month, two specialty brands underwent a transformation: Stonewall Kitchen named Carrie McDermott CEO, replacing John Stiker who had been in the role since 2014, and Carl Brandt announced that Stan Mazepa took over for Susanne Settineri as CEO following her retirement.
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Image: Kevin Jean Jacques