Kroger's Biggest Leadership Shakeup in Over a Decade — What It Means for Suppliers

The past year at Kroger was the most turbulent in recent memory — and the executive roster reflects it. According to Kroger's recently filed Form 10-K, the company made 10 changes to its executive officer lineup, more than at any point in at least the last dozen years. Pair that with a store count that dropped below 2,700 for the first time since 2015, and you have a company in the middle of a genuine reset. For CPG suppliers, this isn't background noise. It's a signal worth understanding.

It started in March 2025, when longtime Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen abruptly resigned following a board ethics review. Ron Sargent, a Kroger board member and former Staples CEO, stepped in as interim CEO and spent the better part of a year stabilizing the business, cutting underperforming stores, consolidating corporate overhead, and running a CEO search that would ultimately land on one of the most respected operators in global retail.

On February 9, 2026, Kroger announced Greg Foran — former head of Walmart U.S. and Air New Zealand — as its permanent CEO, the first external hire for the top job in the company's 143-year history. The appointment sent Kroger shares up roughly 7% on the day.

The most consequential change for CPG brands isn't Foran himself — it's what happened to the merchant organization around him.

Mary Ellen Adcock, EVP and Chief Merchant and Marketing Officer

Adcock oversees sales and category planning across fresh foods, center store, and general merchandise, along with analytics and execution, e-commerce and digital merchandising, and Kroger's Our Brands private label division. She is a 25-year Kroger veteran who came up through operations and manufacturing — not traditional merchandising. That background matters. Adcock is wired for efficiency and execution first, which aligns squarely with what Foran is building. She is also widely viewed as the long-term CEO candidate when Foran eventually transitions out.

Division Leadership Turnover

Beyond the C-suite, Kroger shuffled division president roles across several key markets. Victor Smith was promoted from Atlanta Division president to SVP of Retail Divisions. Monica Garnes, previously president of Fry's, moved to lead Atlanta. Ken DeLuca moved from Michigan to Fry's. Kendra Doyel moved from Food 4 Less to Ralphs. Two long-serving division presidents retired — Colleen Juergensen after 45 years leading the Central Division, and Tom Schwilke after 42-plus years with Ralphs. That's a significant amount of institutional knowledge walking out the door at the division level simultaneously.

Leadership transitions at this scale have real downstream effects for suppliers. Here's how to think about it.

Category Managers are watching upward for signals.

When leadership changes at the top, Category Managers go into a period of relative caution. They are reading the new priorities and calibrating accordingly. This is not the time to bring speculative new item pitches. It is the time to show up with strong data, clean scorecards, and a clear story about performance.

Execution is being graded harder now.

Foran's reputation was built on store standards and operational discipline. Adcock's was built on delivering over $1 billion in annual operational savings. Together, they represent a leadership team that will hold the supply chain to a higher standard on fill rates, on-shelf availability, item data accuracy, and case pack efficiency. Brands that are sloppy on execution will feel it faster under this regime than the previous one.

Division relationships matter more when new presidents are learning the book.

New division presidents mean new priorities at the local level. If your brand has strong velocity in a division where leadership just changed hands, now is the time to make sure that story is documented and in front of the right people. Don't assume the new president inherited your context. Earn it again.

From Cincinnati CPG Edge, keeping you in the Kroger know.