Ahold Delhaize USA appoints chief sustainability officer

Dive Brief:

• Ahold Delhaize USA has named Marc Stolzman as chief sustainability officer, the supermarket operator announced Tuesday.

• In his new role, Stolzman will manage all facets of health and sustainability for the company, including regulatory, compliance and financial reporting.

• Stolzman’s appointment comes as Ahold Delhaize continues to sharpen its focus on the environment.

Dive Insight:

Stolzman is taking charge of Ahold Delhaize’s sustainability operations in the U.S. following the Dutch grocery company’s announcement last December that it has made significant progress toward reducing the level of greenhouse gas emissions it generates through its operations.

That announcement followed Ahold Delhaize’s decision in mid-2022 to name its first top-level executive to oversee sustainability-related activities across the company’s international footprint. That executive, Jan Ernst de Groot, is set to retire later this year and hand his responsibilities as chief sustainability officer to Alex Holt, who is joining Ahold Delhaize from Australian retailer Woolworths Group.

Stolzman, who will report to Ahold Delhaize USA CEO JJ Fleeman, is becoming the company’s top sustainability official after spending five years with its Peapod Digital Labs unit, where he was executive lead of finance. In that position, Stolzman led initiatives with other parts of the company in addition to overseeing financial operations for the technology group.

“As we work through important and complex sustainability efforts in the next several years, including eliminating carbon emissions, bringing to market healthier products, stopping food waste, reducing single-use plastics and more, Marc’s proven leadership and deep financial background will be instrumental in driving our ambitious goals,” Fleeman said in a statement.

Stolzman arrived at Ahold Delhaize in May 2019 after serving as president and CFO of Kymeta, a satellite communications company, according to his profile on LinkedIn. Earlier in his career, he worked as CFO for Zulily, an online retailer that went out of business in December 2023, and held finance-related positions at several other companies, including Starbucks Japan.

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