FEATURE | SN POWER LIST
In January, UNFI made the decision to realign its wholesale business into two areas: natural/organic and conventional grocery. The move was another step in the exe - cution of a plan to add value and improve efficiency and effectiveness for custom - ers and suppliers, according to Douglas. It empowers commercial teams to provide a more customized product and service-cen - tered experience. After a successful earnings report in March, UNFI was hit with a cyberattack in mid-June that delayed deliveries for custom - ers. Led by Douglas, the company was able to get back online quickly and it resulted in a more effective and secure IT approach. UNFI recently detailed an expanded multi - year strategy aimed at improving profitability and strengthening its position in a $90 billion market. The plan is designed to deliver shared growth for customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders. The focus is on improving service levels, reducing operating costs and boosting returns. —Bill Wilson Hispanic grocery store growth. The grocer opened its fifth Supermercado Nuestra Familia store in December and there are no signs of slowing. C&S Wholesale Grocers and SpartanNash also were involved in a major acquisition in 2025 that involved the Keene, N.H.-based C&S purchasing SpartanNash, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., for $1.77 billion. CEO Tony Sarsam led SpartanNash through both major milestones. The combined company now operates nearly 60 complementary distribution cen - ters serving nearly 10,000 retail locations. In addition, the acquisition includes the military commissary and exchange supply business of SpartanNash and its 200-plus unit network of corporately owned supermarkets. —Bill Wilson SpartanNash CEO Tony Sarsam leads Hispanic specialty store growth SpartanNash is the retailer to watch when it comes to
In July, Walmart rolled out a new frame - work for its artificial intelligence tools consisting of four “super agents” that act as access points for its customers, employees and outside partners. Each super agents incorpo - rate multiple AI agents that serve specific functions. Walmart updated its app in late 2025 to include several smart features, including an in-store savings tool that displays current promotions and deals, enhanced search functionality with real-time tracking and intelligent list-building that organizes items by store aisle. The retailer’s GenAI digital assistant, named Sparky, helps customers create personalized shopping lists tailored to their needs. The platform also offers AI-gen - erated product summaries that transform lengthy descriptions and customer reviews into concise, easy-to-digest audio clips. —Bill Wilson Matt Van Gilder brings family experience to NexChapter Sometimes, your career finds you early on. That’s the story for Matt Van Gilder, who worked his way up from bagger at this family’s VG Grocer, through the SpartanNash ranks to store manager, mar - keting specialist, operations manager and even Director of E-Commerce and Digital Experience. He held that role for six years, where he was responsible for overseeing the end- to-end digital experience, integrating web platforms, mobile applications, loyalty pro - grams, fulfillment operations, and marketing initiatives to maximize customer engagement and retention. Along with cross-functional team building, he spearheaded third-party marketplace expansion by successfully inte - grating platforms like Instacart, DoorDash, Uber Eats and more to expand customer reach. Now, after 20 years with SpartanNash, he’s the VP of Omnichannel Retail for Nex - Chapter, where he will lead omnichannel practice, delivering tech solutions for retailers and expanding customer loyalty. In the past, he’s authored several articles in Supermarket News . —Ally MacConchie
president of artificial intelligence accelera - tion, product and design. He took on the role in August of 2025, where he spearheads Walmart’s AI transformation and leads product management and design across all business units. Danker brings critical experience from his tenure as the chief product officer and head of online grocery at Instacart, a role he undertook during the pandemic when gro - cery delivery became essential overnight. After four years at the delivery pioneer, he developed expertise in integrating AI capa - bilities in the consumer-facing platform, essential knowledge that directly translates to the retail giant’s digital evolution. Before his time with Instacart, his career trajectory includes senior leadership roles at major tech companies. Danker was senior direct of product for Uber and head of product for Uber Eats, and held positions at Facebook, Shazam, BBC and Microsoft. —Ally MacConchie Forage is led by CEO and founder Ofek Lavian The goal of any good retail technology company is to make things more accessible to consumers, often by streamlining things for retailers on the back end. Forage does exactly that. Ofek Lavian is the CEO and founder of San Francisco-based Forage, a tech com - pany that builds payment infrastructure for government benefits. Founded in 2021, Forage helps merchants accept EBT and SNAP payments both in-store and online, allowing Americans to use their govern - ment benefits virtually, and enabling grocers to use their existing POS system to accept EBT and SNAP for in-person purchases. Prior to founding Forage, Ofek spent two years at Instacart as head of product and payments, growing his team tenfold and spearheading payments processing, fraud prevention, and order lifecycle manage - ment. He joined the company during the pandemic, Instacart’s peak growth years, and drove billions in profits allowing cus - tomers to pay with EBT/SNAP, PayPal, gift cards, prepaid cards, and more. Prior to that, he was the product man - ager of payments at Uber from 2016-2019, a consultant at Deloitte, and the co-founder and CEO of Campus Ink Apparel. —Ally MacConchie
Walmart is thriving in AI behind the work of Desiree Gosby Desiree Gosby, SVP of Enter -
Walmart’s Daniel Danker spearheads
prise Tech Strategy and Emerging Technology for Walmart Global Tech, has been instru - mental behind the retailer’s moves in the AI world.
the retailer’s AI transformation Daniel Danker is Walmart’s executive vice
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