Amazon's Jason Buechel Announces Latest Grocery Leadership Board Decision, Brings Whole Foods Deeper into Amazon Fold
UNITED STATES - A new grocery board is taking root at Amazon, and with that, the retail giant's aggressive new strategy to become a grocery stalwart. In an internal memo circulated last week, Jason Buechel, Whole Foods Chief Executive Officer and Amazon Vice President of Worldwide Grocery, outlined the grocery-forward plans of Amazon and which leaders are going to help him accomplish it.
According to Business Insider, who broke the news, the plan notably brings Whole Foods' corporate staff under Amazon's employee programs, including performance reviews and pay structure.
As the source noted, the changes will happen over the next 12 months, but won't affect Whole Foods' frontline warehouse and in-store workers.
The new grocery board includes the following seasoned executives:
- Anand Varadarajan, VP of product and technology, who will lead Worldwide Grocery Technology and Supply Chain
- Bill Jordan, EVP of Operations, who will lead Worldwide Grocery Store Operations
- Christina Minardi, EVP of Growth and Development, who will lead Worldwide Grocery Real Estate Growth and Development
- Ganesh Rao, VP of Amazon Fresh International, who will lead Amazon Fresh International and Grocery Partnerships
- Karen Christensen, SVP of merchandising, who will lead North America Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go
- Sonya Gafsi Oblisk, Whole Foods's chief merchandising and marketing officer, who will lead Worldwide Grocery Marketing & Private Brands and Whole Foods Market Business
- Vishy Subramanian, VP of Amazon Grocery Logistics, who will lead Amazon Grocery Logistics
- Astu Patel will be the Business Operations Manager
- Kim Wells will lead strategic retail initiatives
Buechel added in the memo that new teams run by these leaders will "define and refine" the company's new structure over the next few months.
For more information on how Amazon seeks to lead the grocery pack, keep coming back to ANUK.
