Dive Brief:
- Food Lion President Meg Ham will retire on May 2, 2025, the banner's parent company, Ahold Delhaize USA, announced Thursday.
- Ham is leaving after more than a decade at the helm of Food Lion and more than 35 years with Ahold Delhaize. During her time as president, Food Lion posted strong financials, including 48 straight quarters of positive sales growth.
- Ahold Delhaize said it plans to name a successor for Ham before the end of 2024.
Dive Insight:
Food Lion has been a star asset for Ahold Delhaize in the United States under Ham’s leadership, with top executives of the Dutch grocery chain repeatedly calling out the banner’s strong performance during earnings calls.
Ham has led Food Lion to a 10-year-long run of positive sales momentum even as other supermarket chains have pushed down their sales trajectories during some quarters. She became president of the banner in 2014 after serving as president of Bottom Dollar Food, a discount chain Ahold Delhaize predecessor Delhaize Group sold to Aldi.
“Meg has been an outstanding leader at Ahold Delhaize USA and has led Food Lion during one of the brand's most exciting times as it repositioned itself to better serve customers, while staying true to its core attributes of low prices and convenient locations,” Ahold Delhaize USA CEO JJ Fleeman said in a statement. “She has been a strong leader for the brand, with a remarkable passion for building strong customer and associate experiences, and we wish her all the best as she transitions to retirement.”
Ham has presided over a number of key moves by Food Lion, which operates the largest number of grocery stores in Ahold Delhaize’s stateside portfolio. Those initiatives include the chain’s acquisition in 2020 of 62 Bi-Lo and Harveys Supermarkets stores from Southeastern Grocers and the renovation of hundreds of stores over the course of a decade.
Food Lion operates more than 1,100 stores across 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. By contrast, Stop & Shop, Ahold Delhaize’s next-largest U.S. banner, runs about 350 locations.
