The grocery industry has seen a whirlwind of chief executive changes in recent months. Since January, 13 grocers have named new CEOs, and PCC Community Markets shared that its leader, Krish Srinivasan, plans to retire in early 2027.

Most of the CEO changes announced so far this year were internal appointments, with just four of the 13 hires coming from outside their respective companies. These external hires include Greg Foran, who joined Kroger after serving as CEO of Air New Zealand, and David Hinojosa, who took the helm of Heritage Grocers Group after serving as chief operating officer at Vallarta Supermarkets. Ahold Delhaize also looked outside of its ranks for two CEO picks, tapping Thierry Garnier, CEO of home improvement company Kingfisher, as its incoming leader and Claire Peters, an Amazon grocery vice president, to helm its U.S. division. 

Several supermarket companies have named leaders with experience outside the U.S. 

Foran, for example, brings to Kroger not only his Air New Zealand experience but also time as president and CEO for Walmart Asia and Walmart China. Lidl US’s new leader, Alan Barry, was previously a Lidl executive in Ireland and Great Britain.

Garnier has held C-suite experience at French supermarket chain Carrefour, including CEO of Carrefour International and CEO of Carrefour Asia, while Peters worked for Australian grocer Woolworths Group. Peter also held multiple roles for Tesco in the United Kingdom and Thailand.

All of these top leadership changes come as the grocery industry navigates a challenging landscape in which unit sales are declining and non-traditional players are surging.

Below is a list of the 14 major CEO announcements that Grocery Dive has covered so far in 2026.