FMI Honors Sandy Douglas of Coke North America

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) honored J. Alexander “Sandy” M. Douglas, Jr., executive vice president, The Coca-Cola Company and president, Coca-Cola North America, with its William H. Albers Award for Industry Relations. FMI recognized Douglas among his peers at the Foundation Gala, which was held at the Midwinter Executive Conference in Miami Beach, Fla. on Jan. 23.

“Sandy is a stalwart champion and courageous leader of industry causes; he willingly takes on the thorniest issues within our supply chain and continues working on them with candor and transparency until he and those on the journey with him find the rose at the end of the stem," said FMI president and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin.

Sarasin noted that Douglas made a significant commitment to getting industry standards established, particularly in supply chain and technology communication. “Sandy’s penchant for building trusting relationships has provided an example for food retailers and their suppliers to emulate, inspiring trading partners throughout the industry to approach one another with integrity and greater candor,” Sarasin said.

“I’m incredibly grateful and honored to receive this prestigious award on behalf of the entire Coca-Cola System," Douglas said. "This award is about the partnerships and actions that we have taken together as an industry to advance the quality, speed and effectiveness of our service to our customers.”

His peers suggest that Douglas’ authenticity makes it natural for him to confront tough issues with integrity. Danny Wegman, chief executive officer, Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. offered video testimonial.  "It’s pretty hard not to like Sandy—he loves to smile and that draws everyone in.

Good relations have always been important to Coke, so Sandy was an excellent choice to represent the company," Wegman said. "It was in the early 2000s that I got to see another side of Sandy: Various groups had sprung up to synchronize data for the industry. I was quite puzzled why various groups were trying to provide a single source of the truth. Fortunately, Sandy agreed with me. Eventually, we merged the groups into what is now GS1.

"This may sound simple, but it wasn’t. I truly appreciate Sandy’s leadership and tenacity," Wegman added. "Putting the groups together was tough going—that wonderful smile was put to good use.”

The resulting data hub, which is now known as 1WorldSync, is part of the GS1 family of companies, a non-profit organization dedicated to the adoption and implementation of standards-based global supply chain solutions. Douglas assumed numerous leadership roles at GS1, including chairman from 2007-2009.

Just as the Albers award celebrates the attributes of a respected business partner, Douglas has served as co-chair of the FMI and Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) Trading Partner Alliance since 2013 where he emphasizes the critical nature of collaboration between FMI and GMA for the continued success of the food supply chain. 

Douglas remains active in beverage and consumer product industry organizations, serving on the boards of the American Beverage Association, FMI, GMA and the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation. He also serves on the charity leadership boards of the East Lake Foundation and Morehouse College.

After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1984, he began his career at the Procter & Gamble Company working in a variety of sales and sales management positions. For nearly the last 30 years, Douglas has been dedicated to the serving the customer—shopper and trading partner—at Coca-Cola.