Industry veteran Jeff Hunter joins SAS Retail as Vice President, Kroger Team. Jeff comes to SAS from the largest nut processor in North America, the John B. Sanfilippo & Son company where he was responsible for the Kroger Company’s account. In addition to this CPG experience, Jeff has worked for Harmony Foods, a dried fruit and nut independent retailer, and the Kroger Company for 26 years. His diverse working knowledge within the Kroger enterprise will provide great guidance to the SAS team.

Effective July, 2011, Smart & Final will introduce dedicated teams to cost effectively coordinate key-in-store merchandising initiatives aligned with Category and store reset calendars. The program will include all Smart & Final banners and will support category updates including the placement of new items and the handling of discontinued merchandise. Participating departments include Grocery, Non-Foods, Dairy/Deli and Frozen Foods.

The Smart Retail operational structure consists of 35 geographical teams servicing up to 8 stores each. The teams will rotate on a two week cycle, covering all stores 26 times per year.

SAS Retail has been designated to administer and execute all field efforts for the program. SAS will work directly with the Smart & Final merchandising department to ensure program parameters are maintained and all work is successfully executed.

“We are delighted to have chosen industry veterans SAS Retail as our designated 3rd party service provider to administer and execute all field efforts for this important program.”

-Mike Mortenson
Senior Vice President
Sales & Marketing
Smart & Final