Fresh Thinking

Hy-Vee Senior Vice President of Communications Tina Potthoff shares how the employee-owned grocery chain has created a trusted brand among its loyal customer base. With a foundation built on serving shoppers with a smile, Hy-Vee continually experiments to find what’s next in grocery, adapting seamlessly to an era of digital transformation. Hy-Vee has grown throughout the Midwest with more than 285 store locations, and has been named one of America’s top three favorite grocery stores and ranked in the top 10 most trusted brands. From employee empowerment to local community engagement to product experimentation, Hy-Vee doesn’t shy away from an opportunity to enhance the grocery experience for customers.

Voni Woods, Vice President of Deli, Bakery, and Prepared Foods at Giant Eagle, shares how taking risks has helped the 470-location chain evolve its customer experience as quickly as shoppers themselves are changing. Voni discusses how the retailer studies shopper pain points and uses data to inform new product offerings, introduce solution centers within stores, and push the personalization envelope in finding new ways to surprise and delight its guests. Having spent 45 years in the industry, Voni is an ardent advocate for the array of fulfilling career opportunities found within the grocery business. Under her leadership, the Pittsburgh-based retailer continues to reimagine how it can meet customers where they are—whether that's in store, at curbside, via home deliver, through catering, or with 3rd party pick up—in the strategic and coveted fresh categories that Voni oversees.

Chris Foltz is leading the innovation charge for Heinen’s as it gears up for its second century in business. Foltz, the Chief Innovation Officer at the Cleveland-area grocer, discusses how forging new paths has helped the family-owned company truly differentiate itself with consumers. Among other accomplishments, Chris has helped Heinen’s shape its 23 supermarkets into wellness destinations of the future. To stay ahead of the curve, Heinen’s has opened in-store Personalized Nutrition Centers. Each offers expert nutrition guidance and fee-based tailored health and wellness services, including a proprietary blood panel developed under the direction of the retailers’ Chief Medical Officer in collaboration with Cleveland HeartLab. Heinen’s Club Fx is a free wellness program offering education, nutrition tips, recipes, incentives, and inspiration for customers. These programs enable Heinen’s to offer holistic, industry-leading wellness services unheard of anywhere else in grocery.

Mark Koppang, Director of Sustainability at Raley’s, shares his point of view on the future of environmentalism in the grocery industry. Mark is responsible for Raley’s innovative efforts to make its 126 stores more sustainable through technology and community partnerships. Mark joins Kane McCord to discuss sustainability challenges, opportunities, and solutions for grocery retailers who want to profitably and positively impact the environment. A family-owned, Sacramento-based business, Raley’s is committed to nourishing people, communities, and the planet through action. To reduce its ecological footprint, Raley’s has trailblazed new ways to cut waste, conserve energy, and minimize carbon dioxide emissions. In 2020 alone, Raley’s food waste initiatives donated 4.8 million pounds of food to those experiencing food insecurity and converted 17 million pounds of organic waste into bio-natural gas.