Weeks after stepping down as chairwoman of the Produce Traceability Initiative Leadership Council, Cathy Green Burns has been removed as president of Food Lion.
The Salisbury, N.C. -based chain announced that Beth Newlands Campbell has succeeded Burns as president of the 1,127-store retailer.
The change in leadership was announced by Roland Smtih, new chief executive officer of Delhaize America, parent company of Food Lion. No reason was given for the change in leadership, but Delhaize America has seen its stock price dip this year by more than 30%. Financial results for Food Lion are not separated from Delhaize America.
Newlands Campbell was previously president of sister chain Hannaford Supermarkets, also owned by Delhaize America.
Green Burns could not be reached for comment.
Cathy Green Burns Green Burns was recognized for her work in implementing traceability standards for the produce industry with The Packer’s 2008 Produce Marketer of the Year award. In January of that year, Green and other members of the Produce Traceability Initiative steering committee began work on developing specific goals for have case-level traceability, with the objective to have all the milestones reached by the end of 2012.
She stepped down from her volunteer PTI post in November, citing increased work demands at Food Lion.
Green Burns was a tremendous leader for industry’s traceability efforts, said Gary Fleming, vice president, strategic services for RedLine Solutions and a lead architect of PTI. Her absence from the industry will be missed, he said.
“She stepped up to the plate to speak on behalf of the retailers but also the trade associations,” Fleming said. “Early on with PTI, Cathy was almost singularly responsible for addressing the other retailers in the room to get them to start pushing (the industry) to reach compliance,” he said.
Green Burns worked for Scarborough, Maine-based Hannaford Bros. Markets during high school and college and served in several management positions before becoming vice president of fresh merchandising.
In 2002 she joined Food Lion, a sister company of Hannaford Bros., as senior vice president of fresh merchandising, distribution and quality assurance. Green Burns then served as senior vice president of retail operations-north, and in 2005 Food Lion named her its chief operating officer.
Green Burns was president of Food Lion LLC from February 2010 to December 2012.
Other changes announced by Delhaize America in December include:
- Mike Vail, former president of Sweetbay Supermarkets, is the new chief supply chain officer for Delhaize America;
- Brad Wise, former senior vice president of human resources for Delhaize America, is now the president of Hannaford and Sweetbay; and
- Greg Amoroso, former senior vice president for Business Service Center and Sustainability, is now the new chief financial officer of Delhaize America.
Comments (1) Leave a comment