As CEO of Fortune 400 grocery retailer and distributor SpartanNash, Tony Sarsam leads 17,500 associates serving customers in all 50 states as well as U.S. military troops overseas. Sarsam joined SpartanNash in 2020 and has since focused on building a strong People First culture as the company renews its commitment to growth, operational excellence, customer service and innovation.
With more than three decades of experience in the food industry, Sarsam has come to understand every side of the consumer-packaged goods business—from the plant floor to the C-suite. Before joining SpartanNash, he served as CEO of Borden Dairy Company and Ready Pac Foods. At Borden, he led the company through a major corporate restructuring and subsequent sale that preserved employment for all frontline associates. His leadership at Ready Pac helped the company grow by more than 60 percent and establish a dominant 80 person share of the complete meal salad category. Sarsam’s success at Ready Pac attracted great interest and culminated in the sale of the business to Bonduelle in 2017.
Prior to leading Ready Pac, Sarsam was president of the Nestlé USA Direct Store Delivery Company, which serves Nestlé frozen pizza and ice cream businesses and is the world’s largest frozen DSD sales organization. He has also served as executive vice president of sales and operations at Dreyer’s, which was acquired by Nestlé. Sarsam began his career at PepsiCo, where he started as an associate engineer and progressed through a series of leadership roles, including plant manager, director of finance and region vice president for sales and distribution in the West.
Sarsam sits on the board of directors for Mission Produce and holds board positions at three non-profit organizations—Food Marketing Institute, Arizona State University Foundation and Business Leaders for Michigan.
He holds a B.S.E. in chemical engineering from Arizona State University and a Master of Science in management from Stanford University.
Session
The Pursuit of Wisdom and Asking the Second Question
Wednesday, March 27
10:30 to 11 a.m.