Albertsons Cos. announced that Jonathan Gardner has been named its new group vice president of strategic sourcing. In this new position, Gardner will report to Evan Rainwater, senior vice president of strategic sourcing and manufacturing. Additionally, the company has promoted David Nelsen to group vice president of manufacturing.
Gardner joins Albertsons Cos. following a successful nine years at Starbucks, where he began his tenure as director of sourcing for IT and digital. Most recently, he served as vice president of global sourcing and supplier relations. In this leadership role, Gardner was responsible for beverage, dairy, packaging, print production, and supply development teams in Seattle. Additionally, he set strategic and cultural priorities for 200-plus sourcing professionals in a matrix organization linking sourcing offices in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Tokyo, Toronto and Seattle.
Nelsen has been with Albertsons’ manufacturing team since 2001 and has held a variety of leadership roles there. Over the last several years, Nelsen has led the team in expanding manufacturing’s capabilities and product offering to retail including extended shelf life dairy and plant-based products, Icelandic and Greek yogurt, and expanded ice cream products. Nelsen was also instrumental in opening the company’s Hatfield Milk plant.
“Jonathan is an incredible leader who brings a significant amount of experience to our established strategic sourcing team, and we look forward to having someone with his expertise and acumen lead the expansion of our Goods Not For Resale efforts,” said Rainwater. “Moreover, David’s manufacturing experience is industry-leading. This combination of leaders will position us to further our efficiencies and create opportunities to invest in our company.”
Susan Morris, executive vice president and chief operations officer, said, “We’re focused on making moves that improve our productivity and agility so that we can strategically invest in our omnichannel future. GNFR can provide a productivity lift to many areas of our company. Jonathan’s new role will be key to driving that so that we can best serve our 13 operating divisions, 2,200-plus stores, and 34 million customers every day.”
