Topco Promotes Christine Heffernan, Jonathan Morse

Topco Associates has promoted two members of its team to new key roles.

Christine Heffernan, formerly center store business unit lead, has been elevated to VP of center store, and Jonathan Morse, senior director, Project Everest, has been named VP of technology & continuous improvement.

In her new role, Heffernan will have overall responsibility for Topco’s center store programs, including grocery, frozen, health and beauty care (hbc), general merchandise and dairy/bakery.

“Christine has done an excellent job carrying out Topco’s strategic initiatives in center store," noted Randy Skoda, president/CEO of the Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Topco. "She has led the charge with several category-driven product innovations and executed on Topco’s industry-best procurement processes to drive sales and optimize profitability across the membership."

A member of the Topco team since 2002 as part of the merger with Shurfine International, Heffernan served as program director in 2008 and business unit lead, center store in 2014. Prior to joining Topco, she held several leadership positions at Shurfine International, including director, member services. 

In his new role, Jonathan Morse will lead Topco’s technology and project management teams as the company continues to implement and update key business processes and technology.

“Continuous improvement and technology are playing a more critical role in Topco’s procurement strategy, and Jonathan’s expertise will help us maximize our investment in IT systems and business processes,” said Skoda.

Morse joined Topco in 2013, bringing with him 12 years of industry experience as a consultant on a variety of business and technology transformation projects in both the retail and consumer packaged goods industries.

Topco Associates provides aggregation, innovation and knowledge management solutions for its leading food industry member-owners and customers, including grocery retailers, wholesalers and foodservice suppliers.