It was a record setting year for the Wakefern Food Corporation, parent company of ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, Fresh Grocer, Fairway Market, Gourmet Garage and Dearborn Market. Helped by COVID-19 related sales increases and the opening of new stores, the Keasbey, NJ-based distributor reported retail sales of $18.3 billion for the 53-week fiscal year ending October 3, 2020, a 9.75 percent increase from the prior year’s retail revenue of $16.6 billion.
The announcement was made at Wakefern’s virtual annual meeting held on October 22. During the past 12 months, the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States opened four new ShopRite stores, welcomed a new banner, Manhattan-based Fairway Market, and added a new member, the Maniaci family and their four stores in Northern New Jersey that now trade under the Fresh Grocer banner.
Wakefern chairman and CEO Joseph S. Colalillo, president and COO Joe Sheridan, and executive VP Chris Lane addressed Wakefern shareholders, store management and staff at the 90-minute meeting.
Wakefern said that hundreds of associates from across the cooperative tuned into the annual meeting, which was broadcast live. Leadership reported on the 2020 fiscal year and how Wakefern and its family-owned supermarkets rose to every challenge and supported their communities during the unprecedented COVID-19 public health emergency. In addition to the cooperative-wide effort to keep stores stocked and running smoothly during the crisis, Wakefern members also incorporated the latest safety protocols in all stores.
“Our store associates embraced their roles. Their courage and commitment was amazing; their teamwork energizing. Throughout the last seven months, I’ve witnessed our entire organization live our purpose of caring deeply about people, helping them to eat well and be happy. It never had to be said, it’s just what we did,” said Colalillo, whose family owns five ShopRite stores in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Sheridan said 2020 created a new customer with new expectations that include cooking more at home and shopping more online. To accommodate this new customer, Wakefern added capacity to its online shopping offerings, including ShopRite from Home. He added that the company continues to innovate, improve and expand the digital shopping experience.
“Our customers turned to us for reassurance and for the things they wanted and needed for their families during this challenging time, and we were there for our customers, our neighbors, our friends and our families,” said Sheridan. “There have been a lot of changes to how we operate and how people shop, but our goal is always to provide the best and safest possible shopping experience for our customers. And that’s exactly what we are doing.”
Lane reported on the company’s successful initiatives and the focus the cooperative maintained even during a year of remarkable change and challenges.
Those accomplishments included the continued rollout of ShopRite’s flagship store brands, Bowl & Basket and Paperbird, and the recent expansion and rebrand of its other store brands, Wholesome Pantry and Wholesome Pantry Organic. The Wholesome Pantry brand of accessible foods, which is free from additives and artificial ingredients, was re-introduced this month with an updated look and feel, select new products, and a fresh tagline, “Food Set Free.”
Wakefern also opened its second stand-alone micro-fulfillment center, which uses advanced robotics to quickly assemble ShopRite from Home grocery orders and expands the reach and capacity of online shopping service for stores. Lane said the cooperative plans to open additional micro-fulfillment centers over the next few years.
Lane also detailed Wakefern’s plans to deliver wholesome and affordable fresh foods and meal solutions to customers. Fresh to Table, unveiled this month at three ShopRite stores, features a convenient “store-within-a-store” format that gives customers a whole new way to access fresh meal solutions and on-trend foods. The Fresh to Table experience provides a “One Stop Dinner Shop,” showcasing five ingredient chef and dietitian inspired meals that change weekly, as well as “Prep & Eat,” “Grab & Eat,” and “Heat & Eat” sections. The Fresh to Table experience also offers a digital component with the newly redesigned ShopRite Order Express app and integrated recipe shopping lists available through in-store QR codes and online, at ShopRite’s Recipe Shop available at shoprite.com.
“Step by step, we persevered and chipped away at our goals during 2020, even as we simultaneously responded to a global pandemic. And for that, we can only thank each and every one of you,” said Lane.
Colalillo also presented this year’s “Chairman’s Award” to Doug Wille, Wakefern’s recently retired chief financial officer. Colalillo thanked Wille for his more than four decades of service to the cooperative. Neil Falcone, Wakefern’s former VP-ShopRite Financial Services (SFS) and corporate finance, has been named Wakefern’s new CFO.
Geoffrey Eickhoff, president and chief operating officer of Eickhoff’s Supermarkets (five ShopRite stores), was also welcomed as a new member of Wakefern’s board of directors during the meeting, and leadership thanked retiring board member, Vince Lo Curcio of Nutley Park ShopRite, Inc., for his 10 years of service to the board.
Wakefern shareholders re-elected to the board of directors at the meeting include: Colalillo as chairman and CEO; Sean McMenamin (two ShopRite stores); Larri Wolfson (owner of the Lincoln Park, NJ ShopRite); Dominick J. Romano (whose company, Ronetco, owns eight ShopRites); and Irv Glass (whose company, Glass Gardens, owns 11 ShopRites) were elected vice chairmen; Lawrence Inserra, Jr. (whose company owns 23 ShopRites and two Price Rites) was elected treasurer; Jeff Brown (11 ShopRites and two Fresh Grocers) was named assistant treasurer; Richard Saker (30 ShopRites and a Dearborn Market), is now secretary; and Ned Gladstein (whose company, Sunrise Supermarkets, owns two ShopRites), Nicholas Sumas (whose company, Village, owns 30 ShopRites, three Gourmet Garages and five Fairway Markets), and Shawn Ravitz (five ShopRites and a Price Rite) were elected assistant secretaries.
Sheridan was also re-elected as president and COO, and Lane was re-elected as EVP.