National Co+op Grocers has appointed grocery industry veteran Tandy Harvey as its next CEO, effective Jan. 1, the business services cooperative said Monday.
Harvey, whose more than 30 years of experience in the grocery sector include senior executive roles at United Natural Foods, Inc. and SuperValu, will succeed current NCG CEO C.E. Pugh, who is retiring.
“Tandy impressed us with her strong background, her understanding of the grocery landscape and her clear passion for the cooperative model. The board has full confidence in her ability to guide NCG into its next chapter,” NCG Board President Sarah Christensen, general manager of Oryana, a co-op in Michigan, said in a statement.
Pugh, a former general manager of La Montañita Co-op Food Market in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who was appointed permanent CEO of NCG in 2019, had previously said that he planned to step down, according to the announcement.
Christensen praised Pugh for his contributions to the NCG. “We are deeply grateful for C.E.’s steady leadership and his unwavering commitment to the cooperative movement,” she said in a statement.
NCG provides operational and marketing support to independent food co-ops under a model that it says allows smaller grocers to gain the advantages of being part of a chain while remaining autonomous. Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, the organization includes 167 member co-ops operating over 242 storefronts in 39 states. Those retailers collectively have annual sales of almost $2.5 billion, according to the co-op.
