Former Kraft Exec Joins Albertsons Board of Directors
Albertsons is further diversifying its board of directors with the appointment of Mary
Beth West, a former Kraft exec with rich CPG and retail experience.
West began her career at Kraft Foods, and over the course of 21 years of working on some of the food industry’s most iconic brands, she was named chief marketing officer in 2007. When Kraft Foods spun their snack foods division off in 2012, West went with the new company, Deerfield, Illinois-based Mondelez International Inc., where she was EVP, chief category and marketing officer from 2012 to 2014.
When West left Mondelez, she joined Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penney Co. in 2015, after having served on its board of directors from November 2005 to May 2015. She was then tapped by the Pennsylvania-based Hershey Co. in 2017 to be its SVP and chief growth officer. She drove the company’s growth and marketing strategies, as well as communication, disruptive innovation, research and development, and mergers and acquisitions, and ignited the transformation of offerings beyond chocolate into snack categories, before retiring in 2020.
West earned an M.B.A. in marketing from Columbia University and a B.S. in management from Nazareth College, in Rochester, New York. She is currently a member of the board of directors of Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based Hasbro Inc., a position she has held since June 2016.
“Mary Beth is one of the most accomplished leaders in marketing and retail today, and I am delighted to have her join our board of directors” said Vivek Sankaran, president and CEO of Albertsons Cos. “Her expertise in the food industry as well as her skill in driving innovation and consumer engagement will lend added depth and dimension to how our team builds lasting relationships with our customers.”
Sankaran, who joined Albertsons in April 2019, also had a strong background in the CPG industry, having spent a decade at Purchase, New York-based PepsiCo.
Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons operates 2,252 retail stores with 1,726 pharmacies, 402 associated fuel centers, 23 dedicated distribution centers and 20 manufacturing facilities. The company’s stores predominantly operate under the banners Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs, Jewel-Osco, Acme, Shaw’s, Star Market, United Supermarkets, Market Street and Haggen. Albertsons is No. 8 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food retailers in North America.
