Ahold Delhaize USA Appoints Chief Supply Chain Officer and Chief Commercial & Digital Officer
Ahold Delhaize USA has appointed Sanja Krajnovic, whose previous role was EVP, ADUSA Distribution and ADUSA Transportation, its chief supply chain officer, and Keith Nicks, whose prior position was chief digital officer, its chief commercial and digital officer.
“Given the scope of her role leading one of the largest supply chains on the East Coast, with more than 20 distribution centers and an expansive transportation network, it is important to have Sanja and her teams represented within our U.S. leadership group,” noted J.J. Fleeman, CEO of Salisbury, N.C.-based Ahold Delhaize USA. “Sanja has helped further solidify our self-distribution model as a competitive edge in the markets where the U.S. brands operate, with nearly 90% of our network now self-distributed. I’m confident she will continue to add value in this role, applying a strategic approach to supply chain management and partnering with each of the brands to advance their local brand strategies and growth.”
Krajnovic joined ADUSA Distribution in August 2022. Since that time, she has led the transformation of the company’s supply chain into an integrated self-distribution model, improving operations, driving increased efficiency and savings, and boosting safety performance, retention and culture.
Before joining ADUSA Distribution, Krajnovic was SVP of store operations at Dollar General, where she oversaw 9,300 locations across the United States. Prior to that, she spent 25 years with Target Corp., most recently as group VP, global supply chain and logistics.
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In his new and expanded role, Nicks heads up commercial capabilities for the U.S. businesses, including private brands, sourcing and merchandising services, bringing them closer together through such core digital capabilities as retail media and monetization, omnichannel marketing, product experience and design, and e-commerce fulfillment partnerships.
“By uniting leadership for commercial and digital, we continue to drive simplicity and effectiveness with teams focused on both strategy and value across the full commercial ecosystem,” said Fleeman. “Keith has extensive experience leading digital, e-commerce, category management, retail media and retail operations across a number of businesses, making him the right leader to carry our commercial organization forward. He is a trusted advisor, passionate about our business of selling groceries and is recognized throughout the organization for being a dedicated leader who drives innovation, performance and change, and I am excited about all he will bring to this role.”
As chief digital officer, Nicks led teams responsible for powering the technology and functionality of mobile applications, websites, and click-and- collect experiences for Ahold Delhaize USA brands, in addition to data, analytics and insights services for the brands and third-party e-commerce fulfillment partnerships for ADUSA companies. During his time in the role, Ahold Delhaize USA companies have generated considerable online sales growth.
“I’m honored to take on this role leading a wider cross-section of our teams focused on creating great experiences every day – whether that’s for customers in-store or online or our supplier partners,” said Nicks, who started his career at Food Lion, where he held a range of leadership roles. “What I love about grocery is that it’s a people-first business with customers at the center. I’m looking forward to working with our commercial and digital teams – and all our partners – to leverage this customer first mindset to unlock new capabilities and value so that our mutual omnichannel businesses can continue to grow.”
Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize is one of the world’s largest food retail groups. The company’s family of local brands serves 63 million customers each week, both in stores and online, in the United States, Europe and Indonesia. Together, these brands employ more than 402,000 associates in 7,716 grocery and specialty stores. The Ahold Delhaize USA division is No. 11 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company one of its Retailers of the Century and 10 Most Sustainable Grocers.
