Event Leadership

We are grateful for the conference co-chairs, John Ruane of Giant Food Stores and Alex Corbishley of Target, two industry leaders representing the changing landscape of fresh.

John Ruane

Chief Merchandising Officer
Giant Food Stores, LLC

Effective January 1, 2018, John became the Chief Merchandising Officer for The Giant/Martins Brand. In this role he is responsible for developing and implementing customer centric strategies that will ensure continued growth of the Giant brand while continuously improving both the customers’ experience and value propositions. John is very proud of the Giant Martins brand and look forward to continuing to enhance our customers every changing needs.

Alex Corbishley

Director - Meat and Seafood
Target Corporation

Alex Corbishley is the Director of Meat and Seafood for Target, based in Minneapolis, MN. He has a BA in Economics from the University of Colorado and has worked in the industry since 2001. During the last 4 years, Alex has led the team at Target, transforming the fresh meat and seafood assortments. Prior to joining Target, Alex worked for Safeway for 16 years, focused on meat merchandising, supply chain and P&L management.

Alex serves on FMI’s Fresh Food Executive Council and on the Pork Retail Advisory Board. He and his wife and two sons reside in Edina, MN. He likes to spend free time sailing on the lakes in Minneapolis or bike riding everything from fat bike to gravel to MTB.

FreshForward Planning Committee

Mr. John Beretta Group Vice President, Meat and Seafood Albertsons Companies	Mr. Jason Bucko Senior Vice President, Sales Mastronardi Produce Limited
Mr. Michael Celani Vice President, Domestic Retail Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds LLC	Mr. Andrew Eder Strategy and Transformation Manager Unilever
Mr. Randy R. Evins Senior Principal, Industry Advisor Food, Drug and Convenience SAP America, Inc.	Mr. Eric Gassaway Director, Sustainable Food Sourcing Bayer U.S.-Crop Science
Mr. Dan Koch Vice President, Bakery and Deli Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc.	Mr. Terrence M. Murphy Group Vice President, Fresh Wakefern Food Corp.
Ms. Teri Rose Senior Director Culinary Development The Kroger Co.	Mr. John Ruane Chief Merchandising Officer and Senior Vice President GIANT Food Stores
Mr. Don Sanderson Group Vice President, Fresh Meijer, Inc.	Mr. Joe Weber Executive Vice President, Growth and Business Development Smithfield Foods Inc.