Wakefern Food Corp. continues to make news. Last week, the Keasbey, NJ-based wholesale grocery cooperative announced that Saker ShopRites (its largest member) had acquired Perlmart’s seven stores, all located in Ocean County, NJ.
On December 20, the company announced a leadership change at its Price Rite Marketplace (PRRC) discount unit, naming grocery industry veteran Kevin McDonnell as senior VP.
Former Price Rite president Jim Dorey moves to longtime ShopRite member Inserra Supermarkets, to become senior VP-operations for the present.
At Price Rite, McDonnell will lead the discount division of Wakefern which currently has 62 stores in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Prior to joining Wakefern in 2018 as director of retail operations, he spent 10 years at Fairway Market (defunct), holding such titles as chief merchant, chief operating officer and, from 2014-2017, co-president. Prior to that, McDonnell was with A&P and its subsidiary Waldbaum’s (also defunct) for nearly 19 years, serving primarily as senior VP-sales for both banners.
Dorey will transition to Inserra Supermarkets as senior VP, effective January 2022. Eventually, he will move into the position of president and COO, a role currently filled by Ron Onorato, who has announced his intention to retire within the next two years.
Dorey first joined Wakefern in 2004 as a manager in its real estate and business development department, and then moved to the company’s frozen foods division as procurement manager. In 2009, he joined the Price Rite team as the director of marketing and progressed through various positions of increasing responsibility. In 2017, he was promoted to the role of president of PRRC where he led the company through a re-branding effort that included a refresh of all 62 stores, all but two of which are company-owned.
Onorato joined Inserra Supermarkets in 2015 following a 40-year career in the supermarket industry. Prior to joining Inserra, Onorato was president of Stop and Shop’s New York Metro Division and then moved to a position at their parent company, Ahold Delhaize.
The Inserra family joined the cooperative in 1954 and is now in its third generation of leadership. Inserra Supermarkets operates 22 ShopRites and two Price Rite Marketplaces located throughout Bergen, Hudson and Passaic Counties in New Jersey and in Rockland County, NY.
