Ahold Delhaize USA expects to hand the CEO reins soon to Claire Peters, whose nomination for the top role was announced late last week.
Peters has worked in the grocery industry for the bulk of her 30-plus-year career, starting at Tesco in the late 1990s, where she climbed the ranks to chief operating officer of the grocery company’s Bangkok, Thailand, business. After that, she spent six years at Woolworths before moving to Amazon, where she most recently served as vice president for worldwide fresh.
In many ways, Peters’ nomination mirrors that of Thierry Garnier, whom Ahold Delhaize’s board nominated in early May to be CEO of the parent company. Both Peters and Garnier not only have extensive executive retail experience but have also served as leaders for businesses across numerous continents. Their backgrounds are heavily defined by establishing successful digital and omnichannel experiences.
Dan Butler, an insight partner at retail market research firm IGD, pointed out that Peters and Garnier’s similar career trajectories will likely continue once they join Ahold Delhaize and work to deliver the strategic priorities of the company’s Growing Together strategy.
Peters and Garnier are also Ahold Delhaize outsiders, breaking the company’s tradition of promoting CEOs from within the company, as both Ahold Delhaize and ADUSA’s previous two CEOs were internal candidates.
The pros and cons of an Amazon past
For those familiar with the U.S. grocery industry, Ahold Delhaize’s decision to bring in a former Amazon grocery executive may raise some eyebrows, mainly because the backbone of ADUSA is its traditional grocery stores, and Amazon’s attempt at a traditional brick-and-mortar grocery chain fizzled.
As CEO, Peters will be tasked with “a dual mandate” when addressing ADUSA’s portfolio performance, Butler said.
“[She needs to] protect and scale high-performing banners while decisively restructuring or revitalizing weaker ones. Store productivity, capital allocation to remodels and openings, and a clear positioning for each brand are therefore central to driving overall U.S. growth,” he wrote.
The bulk of ADUSA’s business is performing well, and the company has worked in recent years to improve the financial performance of its Stop & Shop banner. In 2024, Ahold Delhaize shuttered more than 30 of the chain’s underperforming stores as well as undertook a price investment program to improve Stop & Shop’s performance.
Company executives told investors last month during an earnings call that both these efforts are going well and that Stop & Shop’s performance is continuing to improve. But come September, when Peters would become CEO pending her nomination’s approval, it’ll be up to her to see this effort through.
Peters will also inherit a sweeping four-year $1 billion price investment program that ADUSA is implementing through 2028. “The challenge for the new CEO is to sustain this pricing momentum while preserving margins, which are targeted at around 4%, requiring a careful balance between growth, cost discipline and mix,” Butler wrote.
Peters’ Amazon expertise will likely get put to use as Ahold Delhaize continues to bolster its omnichannel efficiencies — a key part of its Growing Together strategy. By 2028, Ahold Delhaize aims to increase omnichannel loyalty sales penetration to over 80% and target 30 million monthly active users.
The company’s stateside business is well ahead of its European operations in terms of e-commerce, with U.S. online sales growing 14.3% year over year while European online sales ticked up just 3.3% during its first quarter.
Now that Ahold Delhaize has achieved full e-commerce profitability and rolled out the Prism digital platform across all its stateside brands, Butler said he expects the company to focus on new digital priorities.
“The focus now shifts to scaling this model efficiently by optimising fulfilment, improving last-mile economics, and leveraging customer data through loyalty programmes and retail media platforms such as Edge,” Butler wrote. “These complementary revenue streams are strategically important, with the group aiming to generate substantial additional income from data, media and services over the coming years.”
Butler said he expects Peters’ strong track record of omnichannel integration and digital innovation will suit ADUSA’s needs and that her leadership style will focus on disciplined execution and long-term structural improvements.
“Her experience in sustainability, data-driven customer engagement and large-scale transformation equips her to execute [ADUSA’s] strategy with consistency and pace,” he wrote.
