eGrowcery, Forage Team to Enable EBT SNAP Payments for Grocery Retailers
eGrowcery, developer of the leading retail food industry white-label eCommerce platform, and Forage, the mission-driven SNAP EBT payments company for grocers of all sizes, are partnering to provide supermarket operators with a comprehensive payment solution for digital orders. The companies will collaborate on systems integration and business development.
“Forage is known as a company that helps democratize the payment ecosystem in retail while offering merchants greater EBT SNAP flexibility. The combination of our solutions will help address a growing need for digital commerce flexibility,” said Patrick Hughes, CEO of eGrowcery.
eGrowcery, which operates in the United States and abroad, provides independent operators and retail groups a white-label eCommerce platform that will seamlessly integrate Forage’s solution into the overall technology offering. Further, Forage’s automated onboarding solution will further allow grocery retailers to rapidly secure USDA certification and begin accepting EBT payments, both in-store and online.
“We are thrilled to work with the eGrowcery team to make it easier for low-income families to access the food they need, when and where they need it,” said Ofek Lavian, co-founder and CEO of Forage. “Together, this partnership will empower more retailers with the technology to make healthy foods more accessible and convenient for millions of Americans relying on SNAP benefits.”
Retailers interested in learning more about the eGrowcery and Forage solutions can contact eGrowcery here.
Forage builds payments infrastructure that processes government benefits, starting with enabling merchants to accept EBT SNAP payments. 42 million Americans receive government assistance to afford groceries, and Forage powers payments to serve communities in need. Forage is the only USDA-approved third-party payment processor (TPP) that offers retailers best-in-class software combined with dedicated service, enabling complex government payments online and guiding retailers through USDA authorization. For more information visit www.joinforage.com.
eGrowcery is the market-leading, white-label, SaaS based eCommerce solution designed to service grocery retailers. The eGrowcery platform is a true end-to-end, omnichannel solution that integrates with back-office/point of sale systems while enabling retailers to personalize their own shopper experience. Serving companies in the US and abroad, eGrowcery empowers retailers with the ability to personalize their shopping experience while providing the most efficient in-store fulfillment solution in the industry.
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Food Lion President Meg Ham to Retire in May
Meg Ham will retire as Food Lion president.
Ahold Delhaize USA has announced that Meg Ham, president of Food Lion, plans to retire on May 2, after more than 35 years with the organization. She has been at the helm of Food Lion for more than a decade and has been part of the brand’s unprecedented growth, grounded in Food Lion’s heritage of customer service and convenient locations. A successor for Ham will be announced before year-end.
“Meg has been an outstanding leader at Ahold Delhaize USA and has led Food Lion during one of the brand’s most exciting times as it repositioned itself to better serve customers, while staying true to its core attributes of low prices and convenient locations,” said JJ Fleeman, CEO of Ahold Delhaize USA. “Under Meg’s leadership, the brand has experienced tremendous growth, all while remaining true to its purpose of nourishing the towns and cities Food Lion serves. Not only did the Food Lion business thrive, but under Meg’s leadership the brand is on track to deliver 1.5 billion meals by 2025 through its Food Lion Feeds hunger-relief platform. She has been a strong leader for the brand, with a remarkable passion for building strong customer and associate experiences, and we wish her all the best as she transitions to retirement.”
Ham added, “While I am looking forward to retirement, Food Lion and Hannaford have been places that I have called home for more than 35 years. I am incredibly grateful to the associates who I have had the opportunity to work alongside every day, to our customers who put their trust in us to nourish their families and to our community partners who work tirelessly every day to feed those who are hungry in our local communities. Throughout my career, I have strived to operate as a humble teacher and a proud learner, and I have cherished the opportunity to learn from the great people I have worked with, and learned from, over the years.”
Food Lion is an omnichannel grocery retailer committed to nourishing its neighbors. More than 82,000 associates across more than 1,100 stores deliver an easy, fresh and affordable shopping experience throughout 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. With a focus on hunger relief, the grocer is a pioneer in food rescue. In 2014, Food Lion Feeds was created and has since donated more than 1.2 billion meals to those who are food insecure. The retailer has committed to donate 1.5 billion meals by 2025. Founded and based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, Food Lion is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Ahold Delhaize. For more information, visit foodlion.com.
Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of global food retailer Ahold Delhaize, is part of the U.S. family of brands that also includes five leading omnichannel grocery brands – Food Lion, Giant Food, The GIANT Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. When considered together, the companies of Ahold Delhaize USA comprise the largest grocery retail group on the East Coast and the fourth largest grocery retail group in the nation, serving millions of omnichannel customers each week. For more information, visit www.adusa.com.
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Circana Hires Outgoing Kroger Exec Aitken as President, CEO
Stuart Aitken
Circana, a leading advisor on the complexity of consumer behavior, has named Stuart Aitken president and CEO, effective Jan. 1. He will succeed Kirk Perry, who has decided to retire from his role as president and CEO at Circana and will continue to serve as a member of the Circana board of directors. Aitken will also join the board as a director.
Aitken joins Circana from Kroger, where he has served as chief merchant and marketing officer since 2019. Aitken helped to transform Kroger with a strong focus on people and culture, data and insights, and shopper transformation, leading to significant value creation for Kroger and its partners. Aitken also developed a more customer centric approach to merchandising and marketing at Kroger with a focus on driving high margin digital revenue streams including data/analytics and retail-media.
Tod Johnson, chair of the Circana board, said, “As part of the company’s succession planning process, Kirk and the rest of the Circana Board have been focused on identifying the ideal candidate to lead Circana well into the future, and we are confident we have found that in Stuart. His passionate leadership, strategic and innovative mindset, and extensive experience across the retail, technology, and data/analytics industries will create value for our company, our people, and the clients we serve globally.”
Aitken said, “I am grateful for the opportunity to join the Circana team and work together with colleagues across the globe to build upon Circana’s position as an industry leader. As a longtime partner to Circana, I have a deep appreciation for the power of its platform and critical role Circana plays across the consumer ecosystem. With best-in-class technology, data, and expertise, Circana will continue to drive growth and innovation across a wide breadth of global clients and industries.”
Johnson continued, “As CEO, Kirk helped spearhead the transformative merger between two world-class brands to create Circana as a leading advisor on consumer behavior across all retail and position the organization for sustained success. His focused dedication elevated both the client and employee experiences while delivering outstanding results year-over-year. On behalf of our Board, I thank Kirk for his leadership and ongoing commitment to Circana.”
Perry said, “It has been a true honor to lead this organization through a transformative period in its history. I am proud of the remarkable progress we made over the past four years, and forever grateful to our talented teams, clients, and partners that made Circana what it is today. I am confident that Stuart is the right leader for Circana’s next stage of growth, and I look forward to working closely with him alongside the rest of our distinguished Board members.”
Aitken brings extensive experience leading teams across retail, marketing, and analytics. In his most recent role as Kroger’s Chief Merchant and Marketing Officer, Aitken was responsible for the grocery retail leader’s sales, pricing, planning, promotion, execution, analytics, ecommerce, digital merchandising, and private brands strategy.
Aitken joined Kroger after serving as CEO of 84.51°, Kroger’s data analytics arm, and its predecessor, dunnhumby USA. Previously, Aitken acquired many years of marketing, academic and technical experience across a variety of industries and held various leadership roles including at Michael’s Stores and Safeway, Inc. He started his career in the tech space at ASA, Inc and Platinum Technology International.
Originally from Scotland, Aitken holds a bachelor’s degree with distinction from Queen Margaret University and a master’s degree in Information Management from the University of Strathclyde. He serves on the Boards of InvenTrust, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and Food Marketing Institute.
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