Daniel Papaleo Manager, Corporate Demand Planning, C&S Wholesale Grocers Age 25
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apaleo heads a team of nine demand planners whose work spans all categories, with a strong focus on fresh. Their customer base includes C&S’ independent retailers across the United States. Papaleo has motivated his team to understand the needs of customers based on their regional trends, the differences they experience in seasonality, and the differences in their formats. A year ago, he was hand-selected to drive superior promotional performance for the Houston-area independent retailer market serviced by Grocers Supply, delivering tremendous improvement in promotional execution in the region. Papaleo and his team are currently working on innovative tools through his leadership on demand planning’s Numbers & Ideas team. By not only looking at historical data to drive future performance, but also looking at future trends, Papaleo has brought an inventive approach to demand planning that can anticipate the needs of retail customers, and their customers, almost before they do, enabling C&S to deliver the freshest product every time.
Lindsay Peterson Category Management Team Leader, Unilever Age 34
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eterson took a leadership role in an industry-wide group to define e-category management in a group organized by the Category Management Association (CMA) and the Partnering Group, and consisting of more than a dozen manufacturers and retailers. Her work was recognized by all parties involved, with the result that she was invited to speak at the 2018 CMA Annual Conference. Ecommerce, a critical area for growth today and in the future, had yet to be defined for category management, and Peterson took it upon herself to play a big part in the industry initiative to define the space, as well as to develop frameworks and training to help both retailers and manufacturers get started. Peterson performed this necessary work on top of her already demanding day job as a team leader for category management at Unilever. Such untiring dedication makes her, as one colleague heartily attests, “a star in our industry.”
Sabrina Powell Division Fuel Manager, The Kroger Co./ Nashville Division Age 39
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owell was responsible for managing initiatives that assist in controlling expenses, maintaining sanitation standards and supporting the division’s efforts for ecological sustainability across 91 retail grocery facilities in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. She also led the Food Waste Recycling Program, and in that capacity helped the Nashville division improve food rescue by 86% and food waste recycling by 170.8% versus 2018. Currently, more than 99,000 pounds of food in the division are being donated, with more than 68% of stores donating 1,000-plus pounds per month. Under her leadership, all 91 Nashville Kroger retail stores became inaugural members of the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation Get Food Smart TN this year, and she shared reports and information enabling two other Kroger divisions operating stores in Tennessee to become members, too. She’s also a member of the Urban Green Lab Corporate Sustainability Roundtable, which meets to review opportunities and share ideas to promote sustainability at other local companies. PROGRESSIVE GROCER November 2019
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