WEST SACRAMENTO, CA - After recent news of a Chief’s retirement, The Raley’s Companies is back with even more leadership updates. The company recently announced the promotion of two leaders within its Enterprise and Raley’s Operating Division.

Mike Gabbert assumed the position of Senior Vice President, Chief of Human Resources. In this role, he will lead all aspects of HR, including talent acquisition, benefits, compensation, leadership and development, and team member relations. Mike is a proven leader, having worked for Raley’s for more than 40 years.

According to a press release, he began his career at Raley’s in HR but has vast experience across the company, including 19 years in store operations, and most recently leading Raley’s distribution and logistics.

“We are fortunate to have Mike Gabbert, who is the epitome of dedication and service leadership. We are grateful for Mike’s willingness to serve in this elevated capacity,” added Keith Knopf, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We strongly believe promoting from within can lead to increased employee engagement, productivity, and overall success for the organization.”

Donna Mendes is Gabbert’s successor in distribution logistics for Raley’s operating division. She has been promoted to Executive Director of Logistics. She will lead the Natomas Distribution Center, including all supply chain planning and execution processes with internal stakeholders to increase the in-store availability of products.

For the 27 years she’s been with Raley’s, Mendes led different in-store departments and held multiple operational leadership roles. Most recently, she served as a District Team Leader, leading store operations.

“Donna is a dynamic and trusted leader who is committed to Raley’s purpose and culture. Her broad expertise developed through store operations, and her focus on innovation, will allow us to further to enhance our business” said Jen Warner, President of Raley’s Operating Division. “We are excited to see the positive impact that Donna will make in logistics and supporting stores with the highest standard of service.”

Congratulations to both of these leaders on their new posts!

QUEENS COUNTY, NY - Lidl signage, with its bright primary colors, is sure hard to miss. Shoppers in the New York area will have another bright sign on their horizon, as the latest Lidl is set to open at the end of July in Fresh Meadows, Queens. Local leaders will be at a ribbon cutting ceremony welcoming Lidl to the area, taking place at 7:30 a.m. before the store opens.

“At Lidl, we are committed to bringing fresh, high-quality food to communities at affordable prices,” said Or Raitses, Lidl’s Senior Director of Real Estate for the North Region. “By opening our doors in Fresh Meadows, we are thrilled to continue Lidl’s expansion in New York City and look forward to bringing exciting new products to the customers in the area.”

Other Lidl locations in New York are in Elmhurst, Astoria, New Hyde Park, among others, as the company continues to expand its reach in the region.

The new store will have plenty to offer customers, including:

• Over 100 fresh fruit and vegetable options
• Hundreds of organic and gluten free products
• Specialty items ranging from hard-to-find cheeses to authentic specialty sauces, and cured meats
• Organic and grass-fed meat options

According to a release, Lidl will be making donations to City Harvest and the Food Bank for New York City, which provides aid to families in the area, including Queens County. 

The new location is set to create about 40 new jobs. Lidl, already a 2024 Top Employer, provides healthcare benefits to both part-time and full-time employees. You can read further about its impact, opening ceremony, and more here.

Keep reading AndNowUKnow for all the latest on supermarket expansions.

NOGALES, AZ - Knowledge is a powerful tool in any industry, but certainly when it comes to fresh produce. With that in mind, the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) is announcing its educational sessions at the Southwest International Produce Expo (SWIPE) this year, November 7–9. These sessions are geared toward suppliers, retailers, and foodservice buyers where a variety of topics critical to the produce industry will be discussed.

“Attendance at last year’s first annual Southwest International Produce Expo (SWIPE) was astounding,” said Craig Slate, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sunfed. “For the second year, SWIPE will be taking place in the town that I call home, Tucson, Arizona, set in the beautiful Tucson Mountains at JW Starr Pass Resort and Spa. This will be an intimate setting where growers and shippers will have the perfect opportunity to connect with fresh produce buyers. The year's event will begin on Thursday with a round of golf on the beautiful Star Pass golf course. So, mark your calendar for SWIPE November 7 through the 9!”

The event will offer professionals in the produce industry opportunities for education, networking, and business growth.

Events of mention include the Women’s Breakfast, where a panel of women leaders will discuss how the produce industry changes and evolves, as well as sharing their insights.

Informative topics such as Meeting New Demographic Changes: What Retail Needs from Suppliers, will be a discussion on consumer demands, addressing retail needs from suppliers, and optimal timing on when to launch new specialty varieties. Industry experts will be there to share strategies to ensure suppliers stay ahead of the curve.

Additionally, Handling Regional Challenges Across Western North America will cover North American produce supply challenges, such as trade issues, water scarcity, weather conditions, labor shortages, elections, and emerging growing challenges.

As the event gets closer, the FPAA will announce specific speakers, a release stated.

Today the FPAA serves more than 100 North American companies involved in marketing, importing, and distributing fresh produce.

Check back with us as we continue to share more events happening in the industry.

BENTONVILLE, AR - It’s no secret. Customers are changing the way they shop. To keep pace, Walmart is evolving alongside them by investing in data, software, and automation—all with the goal of creating a more connected perishable supply chain.

“That’s why we’re adding state-of-the-art tech to our facilities: to enable greater speed and capacity that allows us to serve customers even more reliably. For example, these high-tech DCs [distribution centers] can store double the number of cases and process more than twice the volume of a traditional perishable DC, more than doubling the number of cases processed per hour,” remarked Dave Guggina, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain Operations, Walmart U.S., in a company blog post.

How does this technology work? As cases come in from suppliers, they’re inspected for quality and de-palletized. After that, they are stored in an automated storage system in a temperature-controlled environment. When it’s time to build a store order, the system retrieves the cases from storage to begin building store-ready pallets, which are built by department, making them easier to unload at the store.

Additional ways in which the retailer’s grocery transformation will change include building five new, high-tech perishable distribution centers across the United States; expanding its traditional perishable DCs by adding over 500,000 square feet of automation per site to increase capacity for fresh product; and upgrading current DCs to integrate new tech.

“We remain committed to meeting customer demand, embracing technology, and bringing our people alongside the technology as we transform our supply chain. With our investments in our associates and facilities, I’m confident we’re well-positioned to continue providing customers the items they want, whenever and wherever they want them, for years to come,” added Guggina.

For more information, please click here.

AndNowUKnow will continue to keep an eye on retail developments, so stay tuned!

SEATTLE, WA - It is a day for new faces and new roles in our industry, as another leader steps in to steer yet one more helm—this time in technology. iFoodDS announced Andrew Kennedy was promoted to Chief Traceability Officer, effective immediately, to lead the company’s product strategy for the traceability product line.

"I am honored to take on the role of Chief Traceability Officer at iFoodDS. iFoodDS' success is rooted in its scalable and interoperable platform. It is the foundation for connecting supply chains and is designed for stronger collaboration between trading partners,” said Kennedy. “I look forward to working with our teams to provide more capabilities that provide deeper product and supply chain insights, resulting in increased supply chain resiliency."

In addition to governing new approaches, the company said in a press release that Kennedy will also be continuing to advocate for the importance of traceability across the food supply chain. In doing so, he will draw upon nearly two decades of experience leading large-scale food supply chain traceability initiatives.

Widely recognized as a subject matter expert in the industry, Kennedy’s experience includes co-leading Tech-Enabled Traceability, a core element of FDA's New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative; contributing to FDA's Final Food Traceability Rule (FSMA 204); acting as interim director of IFT's Global Food Traceability Center; and Co-Founder of both New Era Partners and FoodLogiQ.

"With Andrew Kennedy's extensive experience in food supply chain traceability, there is no one more qualified to lead iFoodDS' product strategy," Frank Yiannas, Food Safety Leader and Food System Futurist, commented. "Based on our time working together at FDA, I am confident that Andrew will bring his experience, insight, and innovative mindset to his new role, and will help solidify iFoodDS' position as a leading provider of traceability software for large enterprises and suppliers of all sizes."

Having already spearheaded development of numerous food traceability standards and best practices, it will be exciting to see where the new Chief Traceability Officer leads the company next.