Pattison Food Group makes strategic organizational changes in wholesale, merchandising, operations and marketing.
Since 1915, the Pattison Food Group has grown from a single store operation in New Westminster, BC to 308 stores today, serving customers in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest of Washington and Oregon states. Securing its future with a strategic plan and senior leadership structure that guides the team long-term is an immediate priority for the Group and they have reshaped their senior leadership team to include the following changes effective July 1.,
Wholesale
Dan Bregg president of wholesale operations for the Pattison Food Group, has announced his intention to retire on June 30, 2024 after almost 40 years in the grocery industry.
Dan got his start back in 1986 as an accountant at Buy-Low Foods and served as controller, director of finance, and vice president of finance before being promoted to president of Buy-Low Foods and Associated Grocers in 2008. Under his leadership, Buy-Low Foods earned four Jim Pattison Group Outstanding Management awards, the Jim Pattison Group Award of Excellence, and the Jim Pattison Group President of the Year in 2016. In 2021, with the formation of Pattison Food Group, Dan took on his current position as president of wholesale operations. Earlier this year, Dan was inducted into the Grocery Business Hall of Fame and was recognized with the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG) Life Member designation as an industry builder, celebrating his contributions to CFIG and the independent grocers through his leadership at Associated Grocers.
Dan is well known for his commitment to building strong relationships and for his unwavering dedication to the company and his team. Dan has built an amazing reputation for himself throughout the industry; he is a mentor to many and his knowledge, experience, insight and strategic mindset will be greatly missed.
With Dan’s retirement, we have shifted Dan’s business to Mike Olson,who will assume the role of senior vice president of supply chain and wholesale. Mike brings more than three decades of grocery industry experience to the Pattison Food Group. Mike began his career at retail in the deli at the Pinetree Save-On-Foods store and advanced his career through a series of progressively senior roles, including director of corporate brands, general manager of non-foods, and general manager of Save-On-Foods Alberta. He joined the Save-On-Foods executive leadership team in 2007 as vice president of Save-On-Foods operations, which was followed by a move to vice president of fresh merchandising, then later to a promotion to senior vice president of merchandising and buying.
Mike has successfully led the organization through several challenging years dealing with the effects of a pandemic, floods, fires, ice storms, high fuel costs and labour shortages. A constant innovator, Mike thinks outside the box and is focused on continuous improvement. He challenges himself and inspires others to run with creative ideas and implement progressive solutions. Mike’s unique background in operations and expertise in merchandising made him a good fit as a board member with GS1 Canada’s grocery sector for several years. He currently sits on the board of directors for Food Banks BC, representing the Pattison Food Group and giving back to the communities that support the company’s many grocery banners.
Merchandising & Operations
Brenda Kirk will take on the role of senior vice president, operations and will oversee all retail food and beverage banners outside of Save-On-Foods. Her portfolio will include Buy-Low Foods, Choices Market, Nesters Market, Meinhardt Fine Foods, Nature’s Fare, Urban Fare, PriceSmart Foods, Quality Foods, and Everything Wine. Chuck’s and Roth’s Fresh Markets will continue to report to Ben Harrack. Brenda will continue with the integration and conversion strategy that Ben and his team have worked hard on for the last three years.
Key priorities for Brenda will be building out our discount and ethnic banners given their important place in our banner portfolio. In addition, she will also be responsible for ensuring all banners have the appropriate merchandising support to maintain their unique brand identities.
Brenda began her career as a cashier at Overwaitea Foods in Nanaimo, B.C. in 1980. She quickly advanced through a variety of progressively senior leadership positions in retail operations, including regional manager of Save-On-Foods, director of front-end operations and general manager of centre of store merchandising, before joining the company’s senior leadership team as vice president of centre of store merchandising in 2015. As part of Save-On-Foods’ team of vice presidents, Brenda held a number of titles, including vice president of innovation and strategic initiatives in 2018; senior vice president of health, wellness and private brands in 2019; and in 2020 took on the role of senior vice president of merchandising, where she’s been an instrumental part of the executive leadership team of Save-On-Foods and the Pattison Food Group.
Brenda was named Save-On-Foods’ Business Leader of the Year in 2014, and she is also the recipient of a 2015 Star Women in Grocery Award from Canadian Grocer Magazine and Jim Pattison Group Special Achievement Award in 2021. A past member of the merchandising committee for United Grocers Inc., Brenda is on the board of directors for both GS1 Canada and the Canadian Health Food Association. She is also board chair of Imperial Distributors and an active member of the Food Executives Club of Vancouver.
Paul Cope, senior vice president, Save-On-Foods operations, will continue to focus his efforts on leading our largest and flagship banner and building and enhancing our e-Commerce strategy. In addition to his overseeing the operations of Save-On-Foods, Paul will now also assume responsibility for the store development and design area of our business.
Since 1989, Paul has been immersed in the grocery retail industry. He is a highly respected leader who is widely known for his passion, and for fostering the Save-On-Foods company culture of Always Customer First Service. After many years in various retail positions, Paul became a regional director with Save-On-Foods in 2014. He later became general manager, centre of store merchandising and general manager, B.C. operations before joining the VP team in 2019 as vice president of B.C. operations. In 2020 he was promoted to senior vice president, retail operations.
Paul has been formally recognized with a Save-On-Foods Leadership Excellence Award in 2011 and a Store Leader of the Year Award in 2012 during his time at the PriceSmart Foods store in Richmond, B.C., and is a graduate of Thompson Rivers University’s Executive Management and Leadership Certificate Program. A driven and highly engaged leader, Paul possesses a broad understanding of the grocery retail business with a focus on delivering what is right for customers. He is also a dedicated member of the Sources Foundation board of directors.
With this change, Ben Harrack will move into the role of senior vice president, fresh merchandising to complement his extensive operations experience. The fresh general managers will report to Ben, and they will also be responsible for the manufacturing facilities.
An experienced retail operator, Ben has been committed to the grocery industry since 1992. His customer-first approach to decision making and collaborative leadership style led to his rise through Save-On-Foods and later the Pattison Food Group, where he most recently held the role of senior vice president of PFG retail banners. In this role, Ben oversaw operations of several Pattison Food Group retail banners, including Quality Foods, Choices Markets, Buy-Low Foods, Nature’s Fare, Nesters Markets, Meinhardt Fine Foods, and the company’s American banners: Roth’s Fresh Markets in Oregon and Chuck’s Produce and Street Markets in Washington.
Known for his adaptability, progressive and results-focused leadership, Ben has earned a plethora of awards from Save-On-Foods throughout his career, including two Leadership Excellence Awards for his time as a store manager in two of the company’s Northern B.C. stores (Fort Nelson, 2010 and Fort St. John, 2013); a 2016 Special Achievement Award for his leadership during the company’s expansion into Manitoba and Saskatchewan; and Save-On-Foods’ highest accolade, the Business Leader of the Year Award, in 2018 for his work as general manager of Save-On-Foods’ prairies division.
Drugstore plays a critical role in attracting and building loyalty with our customers. It also represents one of the biggest growth areas in our organization, and we are happy to announce that Sierra Johnston, currently general manager of produce, will take on the role of general manager, drugstore. Sierra holds an MBA and is a seasoned operator with a passion for health and wellness and we are confident that she will drive growth in this key area of the business. Sierra will report to Dan Hansen, vice president of centre of store.
With Sierra moving to support drugstore, we are excited to have Justin McGregor assume to role of general manager, produce including oversight of Sun Rich Canada. Produce is a huge driver and differentiator for PFG banners, and we look forward to having Justin’s drive and innovative spirit guiding this area. He is a lifelong learner dedicated to continuous improvement who also recently completed his MBA.
General manager of bakery, John Paisley will take on additional responsibility for deli and restaurant as general manager, bakery, deli & restaurant. John has extensive experience in these areas and with the support of the fresh directors will continue to ensure PFG leads the industry in these departments. The operations of our bakery production facility, Monte Cristo will also report into John.
Darren Bavaro will continue in his role as general manager meat and will now also oversee the meat plant operations in Chilliwack and Edmonton.
Justin, John and Darren will report to Ben Harrack, senior vice president, fresh merchandising.
In addition to Jamie Nelson’s role as chief operating officer, he will also assume the function of executive vice president of merchandising.Ben Harrack, along with Troy Dewinetz, vice president of procurement, and Dan Hansen, vice president of centre of store merchandising, will report to Jamie.
With decades of grocery retail experience, Jamie is a key member of the executive leadership team of the Pattison Food Group. Jamie began his career in the grocery business as a retail clerk in Mission, B.C., in 1980, and steadily rose through various levels of management at Save-On-Foods before joining the company’s leadership team in 2012. Today, as Chief Operating Officer of the Pattison Food Group, Jamie holds overall management accountability and strategic direction for the operations of all Pattison Food Group banners – including Save-On-Foods, the group’s largest company.
A widely respected leader throughout the grocery industry, Jamie was named the recipient of the 2023 Golden Pencil Award – the highest distinction in Canada’s grocery industry – for his lifetime contributions to the industry he considers himself fortunate to be part of. Jamie’s passion and expertise in the grocery industry has parlayed into active participation on industry boards, including that of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, for which he is chair.
Marketing
Heidi Ferriman, senior vice president of people and corporate affairs has taken on the oversight of the marketing and customer loyalty functions and has assumed the new title of senior vice president, people, marketing and corporate affairs. Highly respected marketing visionary, Gillian Yorke, general manager of marketing and More Rewards now reports to Heidi as she continues with her focus of leading and developing growth-focussed business plans and building world-class brands.
A key member of the Pattison Food Group executive team, Heidi began her career in the grocery industry in 2000 and worked her way up through a series of progressively senior roles with Save-On-Foods before joining the executive team in 2018. In 2021, with the formation of the Pattison Food Group, Heidi’s responsibilities expanded to cover human resources and corporate affairs for all Pattison Food Group banners, and all 30,000 team members employed with the company across Western Canada and into the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
A humble, dynamic, energetic and passionate leader, Heidi was named a 2019 Star Woman in Grocery by Canadian Grocer Magazine and a 2023 Jim Pattison Group Special Achievement award winner. She is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree as well as a master’s degree in human resources and communications from Northeastern University and a certificate in diversity, equity and inclusion from Cornell. Heidi puts people first and has been instrumental in forging strong people, philanthropic and strategic partnerships for the Pattison Food Group.
“We are committed to positioning our company for a new era of growth focusing on fresh, value and customer service – both internally with our people and externally with our customers and our valued supplier and business partners,” said Darrell Jones, president, Pattison Food Group. “We are very grateful to our teams, both in the office and at the stores, who come to work every day and make important contributions to our communities. As we advance with our continued growth plan, we are more prepared than ever to take on opportunities ahead and to look after our 30,000 team members and our millions of customers across Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest of Washington and Oregon.”
About Pattison Food Group
Established in 2021, the Pattison Food Group is a Jim Pattison business and Western Canada’s leading provider of food and drugs. The Pattison Food Group includes Save-On-Foods, Buy-Low Foods, Quality Foods, Everything Wine, Pure Integrative Pharmacy, Imperial Distributors Canada Inc., and other Jim Pattison Group specialty and wholesale operations. Its businesses employ more than 30,000 team members in its nearly 300 food and drug retail locations and share a passion for giving back to the communities where they do business. Pattison Food Group businesses are leaders in customer service and innovation and are committed to achieving long-term growth.
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Source: westerngrocer.com