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

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.

GiantFoodStoresLogo

alexcorbishley

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.