A retirement and promotion mark the produce leadership changes at Abingdon, VA-based K-VA-T BB #:130750 which owns about 130 Food City supermarkets in Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.
Ryan Ellison moves up from produce buyer to produce category manager, as category manager Keith Cox plans to retire in August.
Ellison said the lessons and relationships he built as a produce buyer will serve him well in this new role.
“I was a produce buyer for four years and know that the buying gets you in tune with the fluctuations, the seasons,” he said June 27. “You get to meet all the suppliers in that role, and that’s huge.”
Ellison said he will share category manager duties with Pete Barretta and split which items they’ll handle. For instance, Ellison said he’ll handle berries, melons, citrus and vegetables, while Barretta will handle tree fruit, bananas, potatoes, onions and organics.
He said he expects Food City stores will continue to increase their fresh-cut offerings.
“We’re looking to push fresh-cut, in-store cut much more,” he said. “It seems the trends are moving toward more convenience, anything we can do to help a consumer make a meal easier.”
This spring, the Food City banner launched a new guarantee called the “Picky about Produce Promise” on its website and social media, with a video featuring consumers thumping, sniffing and doing all the things they do to ensure they’ve got just the right piece of fruit.
Ellison said he expects the campaign to continue for a while, as the message has resonated with consumers.
“I feel like it helps our fresh image, that quality is our No.1 concern,” he said.
