Chris Coborn Ascends to Topco Board Chairman

Chris Coborn, chairman, president and CEO of Coborns Inc., has been unanimously elected as chairman of Topco Associates’ board of directors. He has served as Topco’s vice chairman since June 2016 and has been a board member since 2014. In his chairman’s role, Coborn will help represent Topco’s 49 members to aggregate volume, innovate industry best practices and share their collective knowledge to compete more effectively in the marketplace.

“I want us to continue to challenge each other to think differently about how we can partner together and leverage the Topco platform that we own,” Coborn said during his opening remarks at Topco’s recent annual membership conference. “I am excited about where we are going as a membership, and I look forward to working with each member as we drive success by partnering as one.”

Pete Van Helden, president and CEO of Stater Bros. Markets, was elected as Topco’s vice chairman. Serving as a Topco board member since 2016, Van Helden will serve a two-year term as vice chairman.

Joining Coborn and Van Helden on Topco Associates’s 2017 board of directors are:

• Brad Brookshire, chairman and CEO, Brookshire Holdings Inc.
• Charlie D’Amour, president and CEO, Big Y Foods Inc.
• Randy Edeker, chairman, CEO and president, Hy-Vee Inc.
• Dennis Eidson, president and CEO, SpartanNash Co.                   
• Scott Grimmett, president and CEO, Golub Corp./Price Chopper
• Laura Karet, president and CEO, Giant Eagle Inc.
• Randy Skoda, president and CEO, Topco Associates LLC
• Steve Smith, president and CEO, K-VA-T Food Stores Inc.

The Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Topco Associates LLC is a $14.6 billion, privately held company that provides aggregation, innovation and knowledge management solutions for its leading food industry member-owners and customers, including grocery retailers, wholesalers and foodservice suppliers.