Progressive Grocer Reveals This Year's GenNext Honorees
Out of Progressive Grocer’s various awards programs, the GenNext Awards give us editors the most hope for the ongoing success of the grocery industry. These young men and women — 94 this year, ranging in age from 23 to 39 — are among the best their respective companies have to offer, stepping up to lead initiatives, guide their colleagues and help their communities. Whether they work at retailers, suppliers or solution providers, their goal is the same: to advance their businesses and, by extension, the entire grocery sector.
As always, we were impressed by their achievements so relatively early in their careers, but not surprised, since the grocery industry is always on the lookout for talent among its emerging workforce and quick to reward that talent with greater responsibility and recognition. After all, these younger employees intimately understand the motivations and desires of younger consumers, who will be shopping for groceries for many years into the future — and the best way to retain them is to connect with them when they’re just starting out as grocery customers in charge of their own households and purse strings.
[RELATED: The 2024 Top Women in Grocery: Rising to the Top]
As a nominator noted of one 2024 GenNexter, “There’s a reason our division keeps asking [him] to do things and take places in leadership: because he executes with excellence, has a track record of success, is known for his ethics, and [his] positivity impacts others as a servant leader.” The same could be said for the rest of our awardees as well. Read on to find out who they are.
Travis Combs
Senior Director, Acosta Group
Age: 30
Combs led the pioneering efforts of a client’s new brand into the marketplace. Success required working cross-functionally with the company’s client brand teams, internal sales and support resources, and retailers. After creating the pitch deck, developing category insight and crafting a story that focused retailers on a forgotten category, he was able to secure 9,000-plus new distribution points. Combs’ efforts solidified Acosta’s being one of 80 suppliers out of 60,000 chosen as a P&G Supplier of the Year.
Elyse Mahoney
Operations Manager, ADUSA Distribution
Age: 34
Mahoney demonstrated strong leadership while the facility transitioned from a third-party logistics workforce to internal labor. She went from managing a small team of roughly 20 associates to 200-plus hourly associates and grew her leadership team from two to eight. Mahoney challenged her partners to deliver on expectations and pushed the status quo to encourage the organization to innovate and change perspectives. She also volunteers at Connecticut FoodShare and HomeFront, where she makes home improvements for underprivileged families.
Jamayel Hugee
Manager Occupational Safety, ADUSA Distribution and Transportation
Age: 29
Hugee has significantly enhanced ADUSA’s safety culture, as demonstrated at both DC20 and DC10. He helped achieve a 50.30% reduction in DC20’s DART rate, a 47.10% decrease in its injury rate and a 64.10% decline in its lost-time rate YoY. At DC10, Hugee’s team reduced the DART rate by 26.70%, decreased the injury rate by 9.50% and cut lost time rate year over year by 28.90%. Hugee also implemented safety awards, environmental improvements and communication upgrades to promote safety awareness.
Annemiek de Graaf
Project Manager, Ahold Delhaize
Age: 31
Exemplary at embodying “leadership without authority,” de Graaf set up food waste reduction programs, increased donations, and boosted upcycling and repurposing of the company’s scrap ingredients. All of this reduced the company’s food waste to landfill by 47%. She also worked with the merchandising team to reduce plastic packaging on nearly half of the company’s produce and kitchen items, moving the organization toward a 100% recycle plastic program. Additionally, deGraaf put into motion a shopping bag recycling program and the implementation of solar panels.
Magdelaina Boruta
Manager I Spend and Analysis, Ahold Delhaize USA
Age: 37
Boruta led the effort to implement and launch a new solution that marked a milestone in her team’s spend reporting in its continuous-improvement journey. The solution brought $4 billion in annual indirect spend across various data sources together in an easy-to-navigate dashboard. She focused on collaboration and sharing the benefits of the tool, increasing its usage across the company. Boruta also co-led a project for the Indirect Center of Excellence to launch an intake solution serving all indirect-sourcing project requests.
Mary Margaret Doran
Manager, Marketing, Ahold Delhaize USA
Age: 29
Doran single-handedly shaped the style and voice for AD Retail Media, the in-house retail media network that provides CPG partners with measurable ways to engage with customers of Ahold Delhaize USA’s brands. Her work goes beyond the U.S. retail media team, as she is the go-to person for inspiration on marketing needs across the organization. When AD Retail Media was adopted globally, Doran took the lead in creating the brand vision, voice and style for the European network.
João Diogo Falcão
CTO, AiFi
Age: 35
Falcão’s research, notably in autonomous checkout systems, has significantly influenced the evolution of frictionless brick-and-mortar commerce, contributing to AiFi's dominance in this sector. As a technical founder, Falcão spearheads research and engineering, as well as product and technical operations, driving innovation and growth through strategic technological initiatives. His leadership underscores the company’s mission to revolutionize shopping experiences globally. Under Falcão’s guidance, AiFi has emerged as the leading provider of autonomous-checkout stores powered by computer vision.
Mark Kenney
Digital Marketing and Analytics Manager, Albertsons Cos./Denver Division
Age: 28
In 2023, Denver topped 2.1 million registered digital users, an increase of 15%, and experienced a rise in digital engagement by an impressive 185% – and Kenney was instrumental in delivering these results. He brings a unique perspective and diversity of thought to his role, and his eagerness and willingness to explore and test new platforms has provided an innovative spark. Under Kenney’s leadership, the division has expanded its use of digital influencers, video content and hyperlocal social marketing.
Corie Pike
Digital Marketing Coordinator, Albertsons Cos./Denver Division
Age: 24
Pike has been a catalyst for digital innovation in Denver, especially regarding short-form video. Under her leadership, Denver expanded its use of influencer content and hyperlocal social postings and increased its brand presence on Instagram, TikTok and other key channels. With Pike’s help, the team developed a more integrated marketing strategy that better aligns with the retailer’s next-gen customer base. She has also made digital engagement a priority, developing programs to support customers, associates and vendor partners.
Amenda Donahue
Assistant Store Director, Albertsons Cos./Shaw’s Supermarkets
Age: 38
Always stepping in to train and develop others and provide direction as her store’s assistant director, Donahue also serves as the district lead for pricing integrity performing audits, as well as being the fresh rescue lead, coordinating and providing information for food donations to local food pantries for all stores within her district. Additionally, she has helped roll out several company initiatives and assisted in the coordination of the Cape Cod Canal Breast Cancer Awareness annual walk.
Dan Philcox
Liquor Sales Manager, Albertsons Cos./Shaw’s Supermarkets
Age: 39
In his role, Philcox has successfully developed and launched a customer-driven approach to promotional merchandising customized for each region in New England where Shaw’s does business. Additionally, he developed an educational end cap for marketing wine, which has now been adopted by several other divisions, and also identified nonalcoholic beverages as an emerging category and positioned the company to grow an outsized share of the market.
Ben Glover
VP, Finance, Associated Grocers of New England
Age: 38
Glover played a crucial role in the acquisition of three additional retail grocery locations and navigated complex corporate lease negotiations and insurance renewals. He led the transition to a new motor vehicle reimbursement program and ensured compliance with accounting standards. Plus, after an audit found excess cash in the company’s bank account over the FDIC insured limit, Glover implemented an overnight-investing strategy that not only reduced the company’s liability exposure, but also generated interest income on funds invested overnight.
Cristy Zarate
Manager of Food Safety, Bashas’, a Division of The Raley’s Companies
Age: 39
Zarate serves on the Arizona Environmental Health Association, building relationships with the state’s various regulatory agencies and collaborating in their programs so that the company’s stores are up to date on food safety regulations. She developed and implemented cut-fruit and fresh-juice food safety programs for Bashas’. Zarate went on to successfully train others in these programs, and they have become hallmarks of the company’s brands. Her efforts protect the well-being of customers, associates and brands.
Kindle Chapman
Financial Planning and Analysis Manager, Brookshire Grocery Co. (BCG)
Age: 26
Chapman was the project lead for re-engineering the 2024 planning process. She assisted in training and working with budget owners across the company to learn the new tool to deliver an accurate plan for the upcoming fiscal year. Chapman was the single point of contact for internal and external stakeholders and leveraged these relationships to create a vastly improved planning process. She received BGC’s Rising Star Award for the significant impact she made during her short time with company.
Jared Johnson
Store Director, Brookshire Grocery Co. (BCG)
Age: 33
In Johnson’s first year as store director, sales improved 178 basis points (even while sales declined in most stores due to SNAP benefit reduction), gross improved 78 basis points, shrink decreased 41 basis points and labor decreased 20 basis points. He improved his operation audit scores from 79.7% to 90.3%, and training compliance from 78.8% to 96%. Johnson’s hands-on teaching of his young management team exemplifies his understanding that training the next generation of store directors is vital to the company’s sustained success.
Jonathan Granger
Director, Corporate Development, C&S Wholesale Grocers LLC
Age: 31
Granger was involved in establishing a relationship with a major West Coast customer. He helped develop complicated analytics that affected numerous parties in the negotiations and learned the economics of the transaction. Granger’s analytics crossed all elements of operations, labor contracts and gross-margin insights, and he spent thousands of hours developing his economic model, which became the basis of the agreement. Granger also helped establish the Directors in Finance Roundtable, a platform to discuss how to be a better manager.
Scott Brown
Retailer Partnerships Manager, Chicory
Age: 34
Brown was instrumental in setting up Chicory’s first retail media channel sales partnership with Giant Eagle’s Leap Media, bringing a recipe-based contextual media solution to brands at the grocer. His work toward establishing a closed-loop measurement methodology for campaigns was critical in standing up the partnership. Brown also led the development of retail media measurement for contextual media campaigns with Kroger and Ahold Delhaize. He’s been instrumental in building new capabilities and innovation into retail media partnerships.
Cole Dodson
Director, Circana
Age: 30
Dodson spearheaded various impactful initiatives, including measuring omnichannel and e-commerce share performance, prioritizing category investments online, aiding Walmart in bridging online assortment gaps compared with competitors, and enhancing 3P Marketplace offerings. He created new visualizations with Circana’s Genius Script tool to provide Circana’s Receipt Panel solution with more complete shopper coverage across all in-store and online competitors. Dodson was also pivotal in driving Circana’s Liquid Data Engage initiative, which standardized reporting across a suite of solutions and clients.
Savannah Williams
Fresh Foods Insights Analyst, Circana
Age: 27
Williams guided a small produce supplier through a new cost-effective and user-friendly data visualization solution. She interpreted various reports and metrics, and she partnered with the supplier to achieve immediate success with a key customer through insightful analysis of its core category. As the supplier’s business grew, the original service wasn’t well suited and faced budget constraints, so Williams innovated cross-functionally to develop an affordable automated solution. She also ensured the new Liquid Data Go initiative delivered ongoing impact.
Robert Cabili
VP of Sales and Business Development, Continental Fresh
Age: 35
Cabili spearheaded strategic initiatives that propelled Continental Fresh to become the ninth-largest importer of mangos from Mexico. His innovative approach to sales and marketing led to a 156% year-over-year increase in sales. Beyond his ability to drive revenue, Cabili’s commitment to social responsibility is deeply ingrained in his leadership style: His marketing efforts with the Water For All label not only raised more than $150,000 in donations, but also brought clean water and hope to communities in need.
Tyler Watson
SVP, Sales, Dan-O’s Seasoning
Age: 32
Watson is not only a successful sales executive, he has also been an influencer for people facing life challenges at a young age. He discovered his talent for sales after becoming a dad at the age of 16 and dropping out of high school. After trying his hand as a shoe salesman, his career steadily flourished. In his current role at Dan-O’s, he’s been a loyal brand ambassador, working diligently to help the CPG expand on a national level.
Matt Redwood
VP, Retail Technology Solutions, Diebold Nixdorf Inc.
Age: 34
Redwood led the implementation of a groundbreaking consultancy program. By creating DN Storevolution Advisory Services, he paved the way for more successful solution implementations in the grocery sector. Leveraging data-driven insights, Redwood empowered retailers to make decisions that ensured ROI and improved consumer experience in stores. He also helped land significant deals with Tesco and Marks & Spencer, and persuaded Aldi Süd to become a self-service adopter, leading to the company’s breakthrough in the U.S. market.
Jess Parker
Food Recovery Program Manager, Divert
Age: 31
Parker led the Northern California Field Team food recovery pilot program, a collaborative effort involving Divert, the Alameda County Community Food Bank and the Safeway banner. In three months, Safeway increased its food donations by 20% and cut edible food waste by an average of 1,252 pounds per store per month. Known as a collaborative and democratic leader at Divert, Parker also guided efforts to leverage the company’s strengths to make tangible strides in food recovery efforts.
Tejas Rane
Senior Director of Operations, Eden Green Technology
Age: 37
Rane got off to a fast start at Eden Green, leading the indoor vertical greenhouse company to scale from two to 32 products, including new lettuce varieties and herbs grown in a single commercial greenhouse. He managed teams across the company to ensure that they could handle product changes while still delivering consistent, high-quality produce to grocers. Rane implemented short-interval scheduling to optimize the workface and is appreciated for his humble leadership style.
Abby Massey
Business Development Senior Manager, Fairtrade America
Age: 37
Massey educates brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Navitas Organics, Hu Kitchen, Tony’s Chocolonely, and Conscious Step on the importance of Fairtrade certification. As she grows Fairtrade-certified product sales in the United States, she connects large brands with farmers and workers across the supply chain. Massey’s efforts have led to greater investments in farmers around the world, and she showed leadership internally by stepping in to lead Fairtrade’s commercial team during a restructuring period.
Mitchell Vetter
Manager, Fareway Market Retail Business Processes, Fareway Stores Inc.
Age: 29
Since joining Fareway in 2016, Vetter has demonstrated a commitment to the industry and led initiatives that have reshaped training methodologies, streamlined operations and enhanced the overall shopping experience for customers. He was a leader in the creation of Fareway Market University (FMU), which has become an ongoing comprehensive training platform for employees in 140 locations across seven states. Vetter is also engaged in community programs to make a positive impact beyond the store.
Ryan Jones
Operations Senior Director, Festival Foods
Age: 36
His relationship-building skills propelled Jones to a key position at Festival Foods, where he received the company’s Marlin Greenfield Award for leadership and the Golden Boomerang Award for customer service. He played a pivotal role in building the grocer’s annual operating plan, creating a base week labor model that has reduced by 9.53% total hours used, decreased turnover by 17.69% since its launch and led to a 5% lift in guest satisfaction scores.
Calli Brannan
Head of Customer Success, Flashfood
Age: 30
One of Flashfood’s earliest U.S. hires, Brannan has steadily moved up in the organization and made her mark by building relationships with retailers to cut waste and drive value. Under her leadership, Meijer became the first Flashfood grocer to reach a milestone of 10 million pounds of diverted food. Brannan is also spearheading a new platform for independents, with the aim of giving them greater flexibility and customization to succeed with Flashfood in urban centers and rural areas.
PJ Damiano
Director of Culinary, Sushi and Strategic Innovation, The Fresh Market
Age: 38
One of Damiano’s most significant contributions at The Fresh Market has been spearheading the company’s largest product launch in history – the hot and fresh pizza program. With an innovative approach, he devised a solution that not only delivers a high-quality product, but also maximizes cost-effectiveness. Additionally, he played a pivotal role in setting up the menu for The Fresh Market’s restaurant concept, a strategic move toward diversifying the company’s offerings.
Peter Mayes
Group VP of Perishables and Merchandise Operations, The Fresh Market
Age: 39
Mayes began his career with The Fresh Market in 2005 as a meat clerk and now serves on the company’s leadership team. His accomplishments have meaningfully affected operations and the company’s bottom line, among them strategic cost negotiations and the development of a tiered pricing strategy that optimized pricing and promotions. Additionally, Mayes navigated a crisis by seamlessly transitioning the company’s meal kit program to a new vendor after the previous one’s closure.
Sara Rueda
Director of Business Development, Frieda’s Branded Produce
Age: 35
A native of Columbia, Rueda has long set and exceeded high standards, from her job in sales management at Coca-Cola to her current role at Frieda’s, where she took charge of important projects during a restructuring period. She has driven significant bottom-line success at the specialty produce company, boosting profitability by more than 50% and volume by 18% in one program, and driving 97% profitability and 52% volume gain increases in another program.
Nicholas Koch
Head of Wellbeing, The Giant Co.
Age: 36
After leading the stand-up of The Giant Co.’s well-being team and quickly defining areas of focus and strategic priorities, Koch has helped the company execute a strategy to inspire healthy choices, improve access to well-being and make healthy choices more rewarding. He helped grow healthy food sales in 2023, and his team also reached more than 70,000 total attendees with its well-being education program through in-person and virtual opportunities.
Daniel Poutz
Senior Store Leader, Giant Eagle
Age: 32
Since he first took on store leadership positions with Giant Eagle six years ago, Poutz has worked his way up to high-volume stores while also handling numerous ancillary assignments, as well as serving on various committees. He currently runs the store leader council for the retailer’s Ohio stores. He’s also a certified trainer and enjoys helping others elevate their careers. It seems that the sky is the limit for Poutz, as he aspires to be like CEO Bill Artman, who started as a bagger for Giant Eagle.
Lauren Gaskins
Store Manager, Giant Food LLC
Age: 33
Gaskins handles day-to-day operations at a busy Giant store on H Street in Washington, D.C., having moved there after eight years in different assistant manager and product specialist roles. She stepped in to lead the team at a store that was midway through competitive plan changes, ultimately hiring 107 associates to cover store needs. As a result, the net promoter score rose by double digits, employee engagement results exceeded the district average, and sales beat the budget.
Catherine Mancuso
Store Manager, Giant Food LLC
Age: 33
Her role as a store manager in District Heights, Md., was supposed to be temporary, but Mancuso directed her full focus on leading the team as her own. Under her expert guidance, the store was second in sales during that period and onboarded more than 100 associates from the community. Mancuso was later promoted to store manager at a location on O Street, where her strong track record of hiring and training continues.
John Trainor III
Category Manager, Giant Food LLC
Age: 29
Working cross-functionally, Trainor takes a strategic approach to category growth, developing new solutions to increase vendor funding while offering value to customers. He hit or exceeded all of his P&L metrics over the past year and is known for innovations like using data to create and implement new assortments for multicultural shoppers. Trainor’s area of responsibility has expanded with recent organizational changes, and he has handled the updates deftly while still volunteering for value-added projects.
Dannie Vargas
HR Business Partner, Giant Food LLC
Age: 39
Vargas uses her grocery knowledge, including her background as a store manager, to provide strategic HR support. She is tasked with HR processes across 19 stores in northern Virginia and drives diversity within talent acquisition. Vargas recently worked to develop 69 associates into key hourly leadership roles and hired more than 1,500 union associates, with a best-in-class turnover rate of 57%. Her efforts also spurred a district engagement score of 82%, better than the brand average.
Galen Karlan-Mason
Founder and CEO, GreenChoice
Age: 30
Karlan-Mason founded grocery tech company GreenChoice in 2019 and pivoted the business in 2023 to focus on independent and regional grocers. The startup uses AI to analyze food products’ health and sustainability impacts and features a team of data, nutrition and environmental scientists. Karlan-Mason has grown GreenChoice’s database to include more than 500,000 foods, matching 75%-plus of grocers’ catalogs, and steers such innovations as QR-enabled shelf tags that drive sales on healthier tagged items.
Gabriel Nipote
Co-Founder and COO, Halla
Age: 29
Leading business development, administration, finance and sales activities at Halla, this entrepreneur secured collaborations with several leading food retailers. Halla has expanded to help mid-market grocers improve their tech and better compete with advanced larger retailers. Nipote guided the company to a healthy financial position and, later, to an acquisition that enabled the business to thrive. He is now GM of the Halla business unit within Wynshop, where he continues to encourage cross-departmental collaboration.
Curtis Amerson
Front End Operations Technical Lead, Harris Teeter LLC
Age: 33
Among other tasks, Amerson recently helped roll out the Everseen program aimed at reducing shrink through self-checkout. This 11-year company asset also led efforts to revamp the training experience for customer service clerks and cashiers via an effective hands-on approach, and by creating comprehensive training documents, he was instrumental in the retailer’s transition to offering multi-money transfer options. Amerson completed the Harris Teeter Emerging Leaders program and is active in its young professional resource group.
Justin Bollinger
Operations Manager, Special Projects, Harris Teeter LLC
Age: 39
Bollinger has dedicated the past year to a special assignment, spearheading the revitalization efforts of a group of seven underperforming stores. Leveraging his expertise in the retail grocery industry, he navigated the complexities of these stores and drove significant enhancements in customer service, waste reduction, profit margins, and overall satisfaction among both customers and associates. Bollinger collaborated with store teams on detailed action plans aimed at optimizing operational efficiency, providing invaluable insights and actionable feedback.
Michael Collins
Senior Manager of Produce Operations, Harris Teeter
Age: 37
Collins was instrumental in revitalizing Harris Teeter’s produce departments through a comprehensive fixturing plan. By optimizing rotation, sales and freshness while minimizing waste and dwell time, he significantly improved store performance. Additionally, Collins’ chainwide implementation of a Salad Pusher system not only enhanced the appearance of salads, but also resulted in tangible reductions in waste. He also led the conversion of organic segregated sections to integrated sections, which resulted in impressive sales growth of organics.
Talmer Curry
Store Manager, Harris Teeter
Age: 39
Through Curry’s transformative leadership as a store manager, he has enhanced service initiatives by instituting daily huddles with associates, fostering open discussions on opportunities and reviewing customer feedback to address any concerns promptly. Additionally, his commitment to maintaining store conditions has resulted in a significant reduction in controllable out-of-stocks, from more than 300 to an average of 30, ensuring consistent product availability. Further, Curry spends considerable time mentoring individuals who aspire to advance their careers.
Matt Dean
Senior Manager-CRM and Market Research, Harris Teeter LLC
Age: 36
Dean started as a part-time cashier at the company in high school. Flash-forward 20 years, and he’s risen to a key marketing role, where he helped launch the Fuel Points customer rewards program and recently added market research and operational measurements to his responsibilities. Dean also recently partnered with key stakeholders to implement programs that led to the 15% year-over-year growth of a personalized e-mail program and a 5% lift in household redemption with Fuel Points.
Brittany DeBruhl
Co-Manager, Harris Teeter LLC
Age: 34
DeBruhl has held pivotal roles during her 11 years at Harris Teeter, from express lane lead to scan coordinator to her current position. She recently devised a comprehensive plan at her store to enhance produce department operations by optimizing staffing levels and implementing company contests. Meanwhile, DeBruhl’s proactive approach to staffing has led to lower turnover and overtime, and she was tapped to help recruit for a new store within her marketing area.
Chris Ervin
Store Director, Harris Teeter
Age: 39
Ervin has set high expectations and driven performance since assuming the role of store director. Under his leadership, service initiatives have seen significant improvements, with his team consistently meeting and exceeding goals. Ervin implemented various strategies to enhance store conditions, focusing on maintaining an optimal in-stock position, meeting sanitation standards, and enhancing overall merchandising and organization within a limited footprint. These efforts led to a remarkable reduction in controllable out-of-stocks, from 120 to just 45.
Jonathan Frye
Inventory Supervisor, Harris Teeter
Age: 38
Despite the distribution-centric nature of Frye’s role at Harris Teeter’s Indian Trail Distribution Center, he has excelled in establishing crucial connections with stores to ensure seamless delivery tracking. Among other achievements, Frye played a pivotal role in implementing a Store Trailer Audit, personally visiting stores during deliveries and fostering strong relationships with store personnel to enhance service quality. He has earned a company-wide reputation for his expertise in process improvement and positive relationships with teammates.
Yessmy Garrison
Manager of Training, Recruiting and DE&I, Harris Teeter
Age: 34
In the past year, Garrison and her team orchestrated 646 workshops for salaried and department leaders, and her influence extended to challenging her training and recruiting specialists to rethink their practices, emphasizing community involvement; this resulted in Harris Teeter hosting seven career fairs with local entities, enhancing its visibility and reputation. Garrison has consistently demonstrated leadership through innovation by challenging the status quo and exploring inventive approaches to enhance the overall effectiveness of team operations.
Xavier Hare
Director Own Brands, Harris Teeter
Age: 32
Hare introduced a lobby display program aimed at enhancing consistency and profitability across 100-plus stores, spearheaded a bin program test to support stores affected by SNAP benefit reductions, and played a key role in the successful launch of 100 new items in Q3. Further, his collaboration with marketing on a new label design project showed his forward-thinking approach to brand management. Hare also actively contributed to initiatives supporting Harris Teeter associates and the broader community.
Mandi Marett
Store Director, Harris Teeter LLC
Age: 34
Despite two competitive openings within 6 miles of her store, Marett led her 140 associates to generate $850,000 in sales per week and $4 million in profits for the fiscal year. She developed and promoted six internal manager trainees and trained nine external hires. Her efforts led to higher customer service composite scores, as well as increased sales and freshness scores. Marett also inspires fun selling events and contests like a cornhole tournament that brought together teams from each store in the district.
Tyler Palmer
Category Manager, HBC, GM and Tobacco, Harris Teeter LLC
Age: 28
Palmer has spent 12 years at Harris Teeter supporting multiple teams across HR, technology, pricing and analytics, and category management. He launched a dedicated FSA/HAS site on HarrisTeeter.com, capturing incremental sales, and headed up initiatives in HBC and GM. He also helped roll out an electronic promotional contract process with streamlined processes that improved efficiencies, and reduced warehouse and store-level inventory dollars in specific health care categories by more than $2 million through new inventory management practices.
Freddy White
Store Director, Harris Teeter LLC
Age: 29
White has steadily proved himself at Harris Teeter, starting as a co-manager at a location in Greenville, N.C., and moving up to store manager there and, later, to director of the largest store in the chain, in New Bern, N.C. That store posts weekly revenues of more than $1.1 million. Possessed of a motivating leadership style, White is also heavily involved in the local community, volunteering for a sports league, charity barbecue events and other programs.
Katie Wilson
Category Manager, Heinen’s Grocery Store
Age: 37
While financial goals are certainly important to Wilson, the real magic in her work is her creative approach to improving processes and fostering collaboration. She stays focused on negotiating everyday costs and exploring alternative distribution methods to help deliver value to Heinen’s customers. In one example of her success, Wilson helped create a vendor marketing program that has since become a significant revenue generator. Outside of Heinen’s, she has raised more than $100,000 for local nonprofits, and she even founded her own event-planning business to help nonprofits. (At press time, PG learned Wilson is no longer employed at Heinen’s.)
Allyson Place
Customer Sales Executive, Kroger, The Hershey Co.
Age: 33
Throughout her career, Place has led major initiatives and solidified Hershey’s position as category captain at multiple retailers. For instance, she was a key contributor to a proprietary Hershey order-writing tool, developing the user experience and methodology of the distribution and allocation. When implemented at Kroger – the first retailer where it went live – the tool led to labor savings of 67%. Place was also responsible for managing the Hershey intern program for the Kroger team.
Katie Paul
SVP of Merchandising, KeHE Distributors
Age: 38
While heading a team that develops supplier and retailer solutions based on analytics, profitability, consumer insights and category trends to bolster KeHE’s supplier network, Paul has worked with the KeHE Women Empowered Community to advocate for employee resource groups by participating and speaking at various events. Additionally, she’s a board member for the KeHE Cares Foundation, which puts KeHE employee-owners to work through volunteer opportunities here and abroad, and a passionate voice against sex trafficking.
Lee Kunselman
Division HR Leader, The Kroger Co./Atlanta Division
Age: 36
Under Kunselman’s leadership, his Kroger division has improved associate retention by 9% versus goal and by 18% from the previous year’s results. He works to heighten the importance and impact that the company’s business leaders have on the associate experience, driven by training, onboarding and ongoing connections. Kunselman has put a personal focus on diversity and inclusion in the division by taking an active role as executive sponsor of the African-American associate resource group and as a member of NextUp.
Kriston Johnson
Store Leader, The Kroger Co./Central Division
Age: 31
Through a laser focus on employee morale, Johnson achieved the second-highest engagement score in his district and one of the top engagement scores across the division in Kroger’s 2023 Associate Insights Survey. Along those lines, Johnson gives each new hire a gift bag and an onboarding letter so that they immediately feel part of the Kroger family, and he schedules lunch with new team members at their 15-day check-in to connect directly.
Micah Powless
Assistant Store Leader, The Kroger Co./Central Division
Age: 39
Bringing positivity, high standards and excellence in execution to his role, Powless is a division mentor for Store Leadership Development management trainees and a proven subject-matter expert on operations and sales. He has leveraged his college degrees and 22 professional certifications to help increase sales, EBITDA, composite scores, merchandising standards, operational efficiency, safety and morale at his store, establishing a track record of success. Powless’ nominator describes his leadership style as ethical, empathetic and effective.
Jessica Utterback
Division Associate Relations Manager, The Kroger Co./Cincinnati Division
Age: 38
Using her 25 years of experience with the company to guide her, Utterback fosters a positive and inclusive environment for Kroger associates while focusing on their well-being and experience. That focus on improving the associate experience through fun activities, as well as other initiatives, has made a huge difference within the division, as witnessed by the five-point increase in associate engagement in 2023 versus 2022 – the highest improvement in the entire enterprise.
Javier Archer
Division Labor and Expense Manager, The Kroger Co./Columbus Division
Age: 27
In his role, Archer created methods to help track and report on key metrics and goals at the store and division level, and also developed a tracker for leaders to use as a guide to prioritize opportunities within their stores. The division had two of its year-best composite scores after implementation of this tracker. Additionally, he was an honoree of the Columbus Division Great People Review Day and was chosen to attend FMI’s 2024 Future Leaders eXperience.
Nicole Thomas
Store Leader, The Kroger Co./Columbus Division
Age: 34
After taking over a high-volume sales store in early 2023, Thomas helped her team achieve five out of five Full, Fresh and Friendly metrics for the year, and also surpassed the fill rate, wait time and primetime wait time goals for her store. She has made a conscious effort to achieve great results through teamwork by having clear and strategic weekly leadership meetings to dive deeply into their common-measures report. Additionally, Thomas received her district’s Peer Mentor Award.
Rafael Coria
Store Leader, The Kroger Co./Dallas Division
Age: 34
As one of Kroger’s top performers in the Dallas division, Coria has managed multiple stores that have consistently ranked among the top five in sales over the past six years. He has led teams of more than 270 employees in each location to achieve outstanding customer satisfaction while meeting all operational metrics for Full, Fresh and Friendly service. Coria is also an active member of Kroger’s Young Professionals resource group and serves as a mentor to younger leaders.
Matt Sonick
Fresh Sourcing Manager-Vegetables, The Kroger Co./Enterprise Sourcing
Age: 32
Sonick’s passion for produce is visible in all that he does. His data-driven expertise is a result of more than a decade of experience, and his work has resulted in both cost and quality improvements. Sonick has cross-collaborated with other Kroger business units to deliver a cleaner, safer and more seamless shopping experience. He has also introduced new vendors and focused on local markets to help meet Kroger’s sustainability goals. Impressively, he was the sourcing lead on Kroger’s first Human Rights Impact Assessment, which focused on leafy greens.
Ogie Cortes
Store Leader, The Kroger Co./Fred Meyer Division
Age: 30
In just over a decade, Cortes has established himself as a standout leader at Fred Meyer. Starting as a grocery parcel, his eagerness to learn, along with exceptional people skills, allowed him to quickly adapt and find ways to enhance the business. Cortes also demonstrated a remarkable degree of resiliency by walking to work every day before he had a car. Despite being new to the store leader role, he now runs the highest-volume store in the entire Kroger enterprise.
Samuel Affronti
Store Leader, The Kroger Co./Fry’s Division
Age: 33
Affronti began his journey with Fry’s at the age of 18, and today he’s a leading young talent at the company. As store leader, he fosters a culture of teamwork and open dialog with his associates and customers to create a positive workplace and shopping environment. Affronti is also an active member of the community and has enjoyed transforming his store into a true community partner. One of his most recent successes was leading his team through a successful $2.3 million store remodel.
Rashad Deckard
District Human Resources Leader, The Kroger Co./Houston Division
Age: 37
Deckard has been essential in community outreach and engagement for Kroger’s Houston division, leading efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as more recent diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Highly skilled at sourcing, hiring, training and development, he currently serves as lead of the division’s internship program. Meanwhile, Deckard played an integral part in contract negotiations with the local UFCW representing Kroger. He has also served as professional development lead and chair for Kroger’s Young Professionals resource group.
Dillon Folk
Store Leader, The Kroger Co./King Soopers Division
Age: 29
Folk is the dynamic leader behind the bustling City Market in Moab, Utah, a vibrant hub for tourists. While he’s one of the company’s youngest store leaders, his accomplishments sound like that of a seasoned manager’s: His store boasts the highest EBITDA in the district – an impressive 10.08% – and he’s exceeded his employee retention goal by 10.4%. Folk is now participating in the Retail Management Certificate program to further hone his craft, with the goal of one day becoming a district manager or merchandiser.
Bhrunella Gibson
District HR Leader, The Kroger Co./King Soopers Division
Age: 25
Gibson has demonstrated amazing leadership qualities and professionalism at such a young age. As HR leader for a 13-store district in Colorado, she’s helped reduce overtime hours by focusing on scheduling efficiency while also increasing overall employee engagement. Her district’s latest training rollup score was the best in the division. Gibson also spearheaded the implementation of MyTime, a cutting-edge HR system, and made the case for additional employee housing in her district, where resort towns make for a challenging labor market.
Jason Broadrick
Category Manager, The Kroger Co./Merchandising
Age: 37
In 2022, Broadrick led a total reinvention of the entire chicken and protein category for Kroger’s deli departments. His work included the relaunch of Kroger’s signature Home Chef Fried Chicken, a new robust quality assurance program focused on fresh poultry and elevated training initiatives, and the rollout of limited-time whole roasted chicken varieties, as well as a co-branded sauce program with McCormick. These changes have helped drive sales and unit growth while increasing households, trial rate and repeat rate.
Jeremy Schettig
Store Leader, The Kroger Co./Michigan Division
Age: 35
Schettig’s 18-year tenure with Kroger is marked by a remarkable journey of growth and achievement across various roles. From assistant store leader to field specialist to now store leader, he has consistently embraced technology, innovation and change to drive success. He was selected to train associates in Kroger’s Store Leader Development program and has been actively involved in advisory boards and mentoring throughout his various roles with the company. Schettig also completed the Emerging Leaders Program at Michigan State University.
Julia Palazzo
Associate Communications and Engagement Manager, The Kroger Co./Nashville Division
Age: 30
During her tenure with Kroger, Palazzo has established a consistent communication strategy and increased posting across channels by prioritizing corporate and division initiatives to ensure that Nashville’s associates stay well informed. She works closely with her business partners and associates to identify content and storytelling opportunities to share in her channels, and she won two internal awards in 2023 for her storytelling. Additionally, Palazzo increased Viva Engage participation in her division by more than 250%.
David Sommer
Store Leader, The Kroger Co./Nashville Division
Age: 31
Sommer has taken his store leader role to new levels by fostering a more open, positive work environment where associates have the freedom to fully execute their roles. His open-door policy has encouraged better communication among associates, resulting in the lowest turnover rate in the district. Throughout 2023, his store also consistently ranked among the top five in the division for sales per square foot. Not surprisingly, Sommer serves as a go-to resource for other store leaders.
Joshua Morgan
Senior Business Owner, The Kroger Co./Retail Operations
Age: 33
Morgan’s 15-year tenure at Kroger has been marked by pivotal leadership roles and groundbreaking innovations. Starting out as a part-time cashier, he advanced to managing e-commerce operations in Dallas before spearheading major projects as a senior business specialist and now as a senior business owner for retail operations. He introduced new checkout innovations such as belted self-checkout, KroGo enhanced cart technology and the visionary “Store of the Future” project. Meanwhile, Morgan’s development of Kroger’s operational segmentation strategy revolutionized store sales and maximized profitability.
Adam Stevens
HR Senior Manager – Learning and Development, Lidl US
Age: 30
Stevens launched a comprehensive Store Manager Development initiative to enhance leadership skills, business ownership and employee-centric management. As a result, Lidl US store managers are now better equipped to lead their teams and drive sales, and they’ve improved store operations by 18%. Additionally, his District Manager Development initiative fostered a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, leading to district-wide efficiencies in all sales regions and enabling district managers to increase their operational capacity by 50%.
NaTasha Brown
Diversity and Inclusion Manager, Meijer
Age: 38
Driven to make a greater impact in DEI programming, Brown pioneered an innovative approach to onboarding and welcoming new team members: She integrated DEI into the safety training curriculum, recognizing that team members may feel safer if they’re emotionally and socially supported. By prioritizing emotional and social well-being alongside physical safety, Brown has cultivated an environment where everyone can thrive. She’s equally responsive in her local community, volunteering at organizations supporting young or unwed mothers.
Robert Hawkins
Director, Store Labor and Analytics, Meijer
Age: 31
Having started out as a college intern at Meijer, Hawkins has now taken charge of such key initiatives as the implementation of a new labor forecasting system, a much-needed scheduling and timekeeping tool, and the cross-functional Fuel for Growth program to identify efficiencies and reinvest the resulting savings. When not providing predictive, actionable analytics and insights, he was able to earn his MBA from Purdue Global and lead his team in various community service activities.
Monica Wyant
Manager, Produce Business, Meijer
Age: 39
Recognizing the ongoing challenge of managing the effects of poor weather or growing conditions on supply, Wyant has forged partnerships with a wider range of new farmers and suppliers, including those embracing such innovative farming techniques as controlled-growing environments or farming under glass. This has resulted in locally grown produce being available even during winter or off-seasons. Additionally, while balancing efficiency and product quality can be difficult, Wyant has maintained a laser focus on quality.
Ryan Titus
Brand Director, Milo’s Tea Co.
Age: 39
Titus demonstrated strong leadership this past year, when Milo’s Tea Co. found itself without a full-time VP of marketing for five months. During that period, he helped to discuss and diagnose the team’s concerns, lead brainstorming to find solutions, and guide the team to execute on those solutions. Titus’ sincerity, care for the team and ability to navigate shifting realities contributed to associate retention and a dramatic improvement in the team’s Employee Net Promoter Score.
Taylor Parr
Commercial Development Manager-Strategic Growth Channels, Nestlé USA
Age: 31
Parr’s commitment to driving strategic channel innovation for Nestlé USA’s water business was shown in her creation and development of four channel-specific launches for e-commerce. These launches focused on an opening price-point strategy within e-commerce, defying conventional wisdom associated with stock-up dynamics. Additionally, Parr played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s three-year e-commerce strategy by overseeing initiatives dealing with new item pipeline development, route to market and direct fulfillment expansion, as well as media.
Andrew Criezis
President, NIQ
Age: 36
In the emerging-brand space, Criezis expanded Byzzer, a first-of-its-kind platform uniting market measurement, consumer data and analytics in an intuitive experience. The platform expanded to thousands of new brands globally in 2023, quickly becoming the fastest-growing solution for NIQ in this space. Meanwhile, in the e-commerce and omni measurement space, he took on three best-in-class acquisitions to create and transform NIQ into the leading provider of c-commerce measurement, digital shelf activation and online consumer understanding.
Richard Pereira
SVP Product Leadership, NIQ
Age: 34
Pereira has been at the forefront of modernizing NIQ’s suite of retail measurement solutions, leading large-scale programs from ideation through delivery. One notable initiative involved revamping data integration processes to enhance the accuracy and timeliness of market insights. Pereira’s strategic vision and meticulous planning were crucial in overcoming the technical and logistical challenges associated with a comprehensive overhaul. By significantly improving the solutions’ efficiency and reliability, he has benefited both the company and its clients.
Christopher Adamski
Marketing Analyst, Northeast Shared Services, a Subsidiary of Northeast Grocery Inc.
Age: 23
As part of a multigenerational team spanning Gen Z through Gen X, Adamski excels at sharing ideas, speaking up and using data to deliver insights that lead to action. This combination of skills and traits has enabled him to successfully lead the development of the Market 32 meal plan at Northeast Shared Services. Looking at issues through the lens of a younger consumer has helped Adamski reposition messaging by using simple, straightforward communications.
Aubrey Ballinger
Corporate Graphics Manager, Oliver’s Market
Age: 38
In her role, Ballinger oversees all store marketing for Oliver’s Market, including digital and other initiatives, along with playing a key role in educating the company’s more than 900 employees on the benefits and responsibilities of employee ownership. During her tenure, Ballinger spearheaded Oliver’s 30th Anniversary Celebration, attended by 3,000-plus people, and since the company became employee-owned, she has supported the rollout of and led the ESOP Communications Committee.
Megan O’Rourke
Manager-Portfolio Excellence, PearlRock Partners
Age: 29
In a former role with Kroger’s 84.51° division, O’Rourke oversaw the creation of the retailer’s paid membership program, Boost. She also led Kroger’s drone delivery pilot. As senior manager, e-commerce strategy and planning, she created a framework to document the value proposition of Kroger’s various e-commerce offerings, including pickup and ship-to-home. According to her colleagues, she always goes above and beyond to get the job done, thinking of ways to explore uncharted territories while coming up with solutions to potential roadblocks.
Alexandra Blom
Sales Senior Director, Procter & Gamble
Age: 34
Blom leads a multifunctional team of more than 40 people driving P&G’s Wakefern and Northeast region customer businesses. Throughout her tenure, she has made significant contributions to P&G, successfully implementing category-specific joint business plans in collaboration with Wakefern senior leadership, driving growth and fostering strong partnerships. Additionally, Blom spearheaded the creation of monthly newsletters to leadership, which has created a valuable platform for her team to consistently showcase its great work to senior-level leadership.
Adriana Stoddard
Sales Director, Smithfield Foods
Age: 31
Moving into the role of sales director, Stoddard immediately and successfully identified an opportunity for vendor consolidation to simplify processes, improve efficiencies and reduce costs both internally and externally for one of Smithfield’s major customers. Stoddard is known never to accept the status quo, managing through the complexities of Smithfield’s business while also collaborating with her peers and other business areas to implement solutions to recurring challenges.
Eric Rouleau
Senior Manager, Digital Marketing, SpartanNash
Age: 38
During his tenure at SpartanNash, Rouleau has driven significant advances in the company’s digital and marketing strategies, including the successful relaunch of its banner-centric digital media strategy, and the introduction of several sales programs that grew SpartanNash’s digital engagement and revenue. Rouleau also significantly expanded SpartanNash’s presence across new channels such as podcasts and influencers, and rejuvenated the company’s presence on social platforms like Pinterest and Snapchat.
Emily Stevenson
Senior Financial Analyst, SpartanNash
Age: 29
Known as an innovative employee, Stevenson recently helped update reporting into a more streamlined and dynamic tool in a recent company-wide project, and ultimately worked through challenging calculations and formulas to cut the report size in half and make it a simpler tool for the user. Stevenson also leads SpartanNash’s young professionals’ group, RISE, where she has created a nurturing, vibrant community that encourages both personal and professional growth.
Ryan McGettigan
Director, Customer Insights, SymphonyAI Retail CPG
Age: 39
McGettigan recently developed an approach and tools to help merchants identify which promotions drive increased digital engagement with a loyalty program, and also helped them to understand what characteristics of a promotion result in the most engagement. He also built a tool that allows clients to see past digital promotions and to plan future events with improved results. McGettigan is known to be highly collaborative, and his methodologies and tools have been adopted by many.
Dereck Lewis
Founder and CEO, Thelma’s Treats
Age: 39
This young entrepreneur got his start back in 2012, when he started selling handmade ice cream sandwiches featuring his Great-Grandma Thelma’s snickerdoodle recipe at his local farmers market. The popularity of his treats got the attention of some grocery chains, and he began selling his products on retail shelves across the Midwest. Growing the brand one sample at a time, Lewis has never wavered from his humble beginnings but has expanded the business to include a dynamic sales team and a 17,000-square-foot SQF-certified production facility.
Kyle Barnholt
Co-Founder and CEO, TrewUp
Age: 39
Barnholt has used his experience in the CPG/grocery industry to respond to a clear market need with an innovative solution that’s setting new standards. He took a risk in quitting a stable career to launch TrewUp, a tech company that provides an innovative cloud-based platform featuring advanced analytics capabilities to transform the process of deductions management. Under Barnholt’s leadership, TrewUp has revolutionized the way that brands manage trade spends and deductions. Clients praise his “unwavering commitment to excellence,” “exemplary leadership” and vision.
Brian Rutherford
Lead Category Manager-East Region, UNFI
Age: 33
Rutherford has made a significant impact as a category manager at UNFI, embodying a hands-on approach and an unwavering passion for the business. He has fostered a conducive environment for relationship building and also serves as a mentor and coach for others. His collaborations with retail clients, suppliers and industry leaders have led to optimal outcomes on various projects, driving consistent double-digit sales growth and efficiencies. Rutherford was also selected to participate in the Future Food Industry Leaders Rising Star Academy 2024 by St. Joseph’s University.
Alyssa Ziegler
Customer Success Manager, Upshop
Age: 35
Ziegler has a remarkable talent for building and nurturing relationships, and in her role at Upshop, this translates to helping grocery retailers reach their goals and meet various challenges. Her genuine interest in her clients’ success shines through in every interaction, leaving them not just satisfied, but also genuinely happy with the partnership. Through her involvement in industry groups like the Women Grocers of America (WGA) and its Executive Female Leader Network, Ziegler also empowers and supports emerging leaders.
Keith Menezes
Senior Director, Walmart Commerce Technologies
Age: 37
Called a “phenomenal hire” by one of his managers, Menezes oversaw the successful launch of innovative products such as Scan & Go at Sam’s Club and the all-digital checkout Sam’s Now store in Dallas. He’s currently leading business development for Walmart Commerce Technologies. Known as a highly collaborative leader, Menezes isn’t afraid of taking risks but is also prudent in his decision-making. He works tirelessly to ensure that products meet Walmart’s internal criteria while also serving customers.