FMI inaugurates 17 new board members

FMI-The Food Industry Association has named 17 new members, including 10 high-level grocery retail and wholesale executives, to its board of directors.

Arlington, Virginia-based FMI said Thursday that the new board additions were elected at the association’s September Board meeting and reflect FMI’s diverse retailer, distributor and supplier membership.

“FMI is incredibly grateful to have leaders from across the food industry serve on our board of directors, who believe whole-heartedly in our mission to feed families and enrich lives,” FMI President and CEO Leslie Sarasin said in a statement. “Their dedication to supporting our industry through moments of uncertainty as well as opportunity guides the work we do every day for our members and inspires us to strive for continuous improvement.”

Grocery retailers appointed to the FMI board include Jason Hart, CEO of Aldi U.S.; J.J. Fleeman, CEO of Ahold Delhaize USA; Mike Stigers, president of Wakefern Food Corp.; Bill Artman, CEO of Giant Eagle; John Conlin, senior vice president of properties at Target Corp.; Michael D’Amour, executive VP and chief operating officer at Big Y Foods; and Greg Edenfield, VP at Wayfield Foods.

On the distribution side, executives joining FMI’s board include Eric Winn, CEO of C&S Wholesale Grocers; Dan Funk, COO and incoming CEO of Associated Wholesale Grocers; and Deb Conklin, president and CEO of KeHE Distributors.

Related:FMI: The future is rosy for private brands

“The food industry has always been full of talented individuals committed to improving how we operate as an industry to best serve our shoppers,” commented FMI Chairman Brian George, chairman, president and CEO of Alex Lee. “FMI’s new directors exemplify the spirit of dedication to others we so frequently see in the food business, and we’re thrilled to welcome them to the board as they bring that same passion to guiding FMI. We look forward to the contributions and expertise they will bring as we collectively work to advance a safer, healthier and more efficient consumer food supply chain.”

New FMI directors from the supplier community include Pamela Stewart, chief customer officer for North America retail at Coca-Cola; Vinit Patel, executive VP and head of U.S. customer development for the grocery channel at Unilever; Matt Gregory, senior VP and chief customer officer at Clorox; Karen Reid, chief customer officer at Post Consumer Brands; and Sarah Frey, owner and CEO of Frey Farms.

Also named to the board were John Hall, director of the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) and Dave Peacock, CEO of Advantage Solutions.

Related:FMI, NRF and others push back on reports of rising credit card fees

“FMI greatly appreciates our incoming directors for volunteering their time to ensure our association is strategically positioned to best meet the needs of our members and their customers through advocacy with policymakers, collaboration among industry peers and educational opportunities to enhance industry knowledge and foster the next generation of leaders,” added Sarasin. “We look forward to continuing to build on these successes through the leadership of FMI Chairman Brian George at the helm and our slate of new and current directors.” 

Alex Lee’s George was announced as FMI chairman last January during the FMI Midwinter Executive Conference in Orlando, Florida. He took over the two-year post from Randy Edeker, former CEO and current executive chairman at Hy-Vee, who served an extra year along with the rest of FMI’s board due to the lingering effects of the pandemic.