FMI honors seven food industry executives
Awards offered at the Midwinter Government Meeting
Arlington, Va. – FMI, The Food stuff Business Affiliation, on Saturday introduced its Government Leadership Awards recipients for 2023. The 7 executives — Rick Brindle, Elizabeth Chace-Marino, Ron Edenfield, Bob Obray, Artwork Potash, Gordon Reid, and Joe Sheridan — have exemplified foodstuff market excellence by first-rate corporation leadership, community influence and buyer company, according to FMI. The awards were presented at FMI’s Midwinter Government Convention Awards luncheon, which was sponsored by Unilever.
“The recipients of the 2023 Govt Leadership Awards constitute a masterclass in food stuff field leadership,” said FMI President and CEO Leslie Sarasin. “Their time-examined abilities and cultivated know-how promoted food stuff business growth and gracefully elevated the industry’s profile, even when faced with the hardest financial setting in 40 several years.”
The recipients of the 2023 Government Management Awards are as follows:
Herbert Hoover Award for Humanitarian Assistance
Bob Obray, CEO, Connected Foodstuff Shops (posthumous)
Bob Obray
Right after a life time of individuals-first progress and foodstuff retail success, the late Bob Obray elevated the bar for humanitarian leadership and left an inspiring legacy of government management very best methods. In very similar vogue to the “Great Humanitarian” Herbert Hoover, Obray led Connected Food stuff Retailers with the dual purpose of maximizing shopper satisfaction and uplifting communities in need. During his 18-year tenure with the business, he consistently pushed for innovation and growth. As senior vice president and main economical officer, he oversaw the development of the 2020 and Over and above Approach, which analyzed each and every aspect of company at Associated Food items Retailers to determine alternatives for improvement. He also licensed generous donations to the Utah Foods Bank, Key Children’s Healthcare facility, Muscular Dystrophy Affiliation and Make-A-Would like Utah. Obray was fiercely fully commited to the strength of the unbiased grocer, buyer care and collaboration amongst his business peers. At the time of his passing, Obray was a vocal participant in FMI’s Wholesaler Share Group and an active member of FMI’s Board of Administrators.
Esther Peterson Award for Buyer Assistance
Elizabeth Chace-Marino, Manager of Government Affairs at Ahold Delhaize United states of america, Inc., and Gordon Reid, President of End & Store
Liz Chace Marino
Esther Peterson’s historic legacy of consumer advocacy and potential-centered development correctly captures the qualified ethos of Liz Chace-Marino, Manager of Government Affairs at Ahold Delhaize United states of america, and Gordon Reid, President of Quit & Shop. More than the class of their illustrious occupations, the two marketplace titans created a pattern of using decisive motion to resolve urgent neighborhood problems – especially in the space of hunger and nutrition. Notably, Chace-Marino and Reid get the job done to support eliminate hunger and improve balanced fairness in their communities.
Gordon Reid
Prior to signing up for Halt & Store, Reid served as President of Big Foodstuff, elevating the model to the amount-1 marketplace share posture in every of its neighborhood markets. His management resulted in the company building healthful taking in less difficult and much more affordable for customers, whilst also streamlining the regular buying encounter through enhanced dwelling shipping solutions. At Cease & Store, Gordon has ongoing to be a champion in helping to restrict limitations impacting a child’s capability to succeed in the classroom by creating absolutely sure that they have dependable accessibility to food stuff. Via the Stop & Shop Faculty Food Pantry System, the firm has recognized and supported in-college foods pantries benefiting just about 40,000 young children and family members at additional than 165 faculties throughout its five-state footprint.
With extra than 30 many years of expertise in govt affairs, neighborhood relations and company affairs, Chace-Marino focuses on legislative and coverage initiatives at all stages of governing administration. Chace-Marino’s govt relations acumen and dogged tenacity served operationalize Reid’s eyesight to help men and women and family members facing starvation achieve food stability. They also cast solid associations with local community companions, legislators, and starvation reduction advocates by way of the Starvation to Wellness Collaboratory to tackle the root results in of hunger and develop very long-phrase alternatives. Chace-Marino at present serves on FMI’s Authorities Affairs Committee, FMI SNAP doing work task force, and is the earlier chair of its Females Infants Small children (WIC) Activity Drive.
Both equally honorees not too long ago participated in FMI-hosted dialogs held at the Smithsonian’s American Record Museum throughout Foods Background thirty day period to speak with sector and federal government leaders pertaining to industry commitments to ending starvation, improving upon nourishment, and minimizing diet plan-related disorders pursuing the White House Convention on Nutrition and Wellness.
William H. Albers Award for Business Relations
Rick Brindle, Vice President, Sector Growth, Mondelēz Global
Rick Brindle
William H. Albers, also recognized as “Mr. Grocery store,” was an avid sector collaborator. Through his time as president of the Kroger Chain and Albers Tremendous Markets, Inc., he leveraged the collective resources of the foodstuff field value chain to increase enterprise choices and refine the consumer expertise. Rick Brindle’s large portfolio of field collaboration mirrors Albers’ tactic to foodstuff retail management. A highly revered trade relations govt, Brindle commenced his vocation in 1977 as a food items clerk at Safeway Stores, Inc. He then rose to management positions inside Procter & Gamble, Nabisco, Kraft Food items and Mondelēz Intercontinental. In 1997, he designed Nabisco’s position of vice president of global e-income, which carried over to Kraft Food items and Mondelēz Intercontinental. In this position, Rick was recognized as just one of the “CPG Market 20 Major Visionaries” and has been credited with establishing a “best in class” eBusiness strategic profits platform for grocers pursuing eCommerce strategies. In 2001, sector relations was added to Rick’s tasks. Brindle not only applied his numerous many years of practical experience towards bolstering small business accomplishment at Mondelēz, but as a founding member and very long-time Chair of FMI’s Marketplace Collaboration Council, he has also invested his hard work and marketplace know-how into FMI’s membership. As such, Rick championed Mondelēz Global becoming a member of FMI as a charter member of the new products provider membership group, as properly as the development of FMI’s two leading buying and selling associate collaboration programs, the Strategic Government Exchange method and the Annual Small business Convention.
Robert B. Wegman Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence
Art Potash, CEO, Potash Marketplaces
Artwork Potash
In purchase to manage a long time of customer have confidence in and best-tier client support, a foodstuff retail government must be highly transparent and proactive in prioritizing shopper demand, a healthy business culture and long-time period interactions with seller partners. Like foods retail pioneer Robert B. Wegman, Artwork Potash absolutely understands that these traits are important to the achievement of any grocery organization. Art’s entrepreneurial management has been instrumental in overcoming incredible troubles in continuing Chicago-based Potash Marketplaces as the beloved model it is right now. For instance, Potash exemplifies the notion of the neighborhood grocery retailer, functioning a Potash Markets store on the 44th floor of Chicago’s John Hancock creating. He has also positioned his enterprise to serve critical requires in the communities of downtown Chicago. In the course of a period of time of civil unrest in the city, Potash Markets’ Condition St. locale endured problems two times, but each and every time reopened inside days to serve local community members. Beyond everyday shoppers, Potash welcomes legislators and journalists to his merchants to advocate for the meals marketplace in a host of spots, such as swipe costs and tax and trade issues. Potash is a respected and engaged FMI Share Group participant, as very well as an active member of FMI’s Board of Directors. Now, he serves as Chairman of the Board for the Illinois Retail Merchants Affiliation. For his impactful contributions to marketplace advocacy, Art Potash was picked as the recipient of FMI’s 2012 Glen P. Woodard Award, Jr., Public Affairs Award.
Glen P. Woodard, Jr. Award for Community Affairs
Ron Edenfield, Chairman, Wayfield Foods, Inc.
Ron Edenfield
Adhering to in the footsteps of famed meals field advocate, Glen P. Woodard, Jr., Ron Edenfield serves as an skilled public affairs practitioner, championing the desires of food merchants in his residence point out of Georgia and throughout the country. In 1982, Edenfield co-started Wayfield Foodstuff, Inc. with a concentration on starting to be the most effective retail store in the group for best-top quality products, superior support and competitive costs. As chairman of Wayfield Foods, Inc., Edenfield has been proactive in ensuring all members of the meals business have the opportunity to obtain these same targets at their possess firms as a result of skilled public affairs procedures. With each other with his longtime governing administration relations colleague, Moses White, and now Andre White, Edenfield has helped protected myriad legislative victories for the foods industry. A frequent fixture in Washington, D.C., Edenfield serves on both equally FMI’s Board of Administrators and Community Affairs Committee. His expansive connections on Capitol Hill aided FMI sort sturdy associations with Georgia legislators, which includes Dwelling Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott and Household Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Sanford Bishop. At the area stage, Edenfield invites legislators to ribbon cuttings and unique activities at his stores to give them a firsthand check out of food retail’s issues and group contributions. For example, when challenges existed in the Ga WIC program, Edenfield invited the Georgia WIC Director to a single of Wayfield’s stores to perform the sign-up on a Friday when WIC rewards had been designed available to prospects. That daring system was the start of a dramatic overhaul to the Ga WIC program that served ensure ongoing positive aspects for consumers. Ron and Andre have been acknowledged to carry clean smoked BBQ to legislators which is now notorious all the way to Washington, D.C.
Sidney R. Rabb Award for Statesmanship
Joe Sheridan, President, Wakefern Food Corp.
Joe Sheridan
Few demonstrate a more robust really like for business and profession than Joe Sheridan, president of Wakefern Food Corp. Substantially like Sidney R. Rabb who served as chairman of his family’s grocery small business for a lot more than four decades, Sheridan has remained a happy and trailblazing worker of Wakefern for 47 a long time. His occupation at the organization began in 1976, when he was employed as a selector in the corporation warehouse. He would go on to suppose leadership roles in logistics, finance, procurement and management in the grocery, immediate-shop shipping, bakery, well being and natural beauty care, non-foods and pharmacy divisions. During the many years, Joe has been instrumental to Wakefern’s continued development and accomplishment – and these days, the cooperative has more than 365 outlets under the ShopRite, Cost Ceremony Market, The Fresh Grocer, Dearborn Current market, Gourmand Garage and Fairway Marketplace banners. A staunch advocate of technological know-how and innovation, in 2002 Joe served Wakefern start a single of the grocery industry’s earliest on-line procuring platforms. He has also produced significant investments in food retail AI to enhance solution sourcing, stock monitoring and squander reduction. In addition, beneath Joe’s leadership, the cooperative has expanded its banner brands portfolio, launched award-successful personal label traces, and introduced on new users. And possibly closest to his heart, Joe has helped Wakefern develop its culture of offering, donating tens of millions of dollars to soup kitchens, foods pantries, homeless shelters and other charities battling food items insecurity, along with supporting diabetic issues investigation and veterans organizations. Sheridan serves on the FMI Board of Directors and is past Chairman. He also participates in multiple management roles on FMI board-stage committees: Govt Committee, Market Relations, Community Affairs, and Chairman of the Nominating Committee. In 2020, he helped usher in a new period of governance at the affiliation when FMI repositioned itself as the Food items Business Association.