Dive Brief:

• Kroger has added executives with consumer packaged goods and supply chain management expertise to its board of directors, the retailer announced in a press release Wednesday.
• Kevin Brown, a senior supply chain executive for Dell Technologies, and Amanda Sourry, the former president of North America for Unilever, have been elected to the board. Meanwhile, Bobby Shackouls, who has been a Kroger director for 21 years, is retiring.
• The new board members are joining Kroger at a time when the largest U.S. grocer is seeing higher-than-usual sales, especially in its digital operations, and looking to accelerate diversity, equity and inclusion across the company. 

Dive Insight:

Shackouls’ exit means that Kroger's longest-serving director, Clyde Moore, who joined in 1997, will be working mostly with members who have been on the board for five years or less. Prior to Wednesday's announcement, Kroger’s latest board addition was Ashok Vemuri, the former CEO of Xerox Business Services, in 2019.

Brown serves as Dell’s executive vice president of global operations and chief supply chain officer. During his more than 20-year career at the technology company, he has gained experience in sustainable business practices, procurement and manufacturing. He is also a member of the National Committee of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Board of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the Executive Leadership Council. 

Brown provides "deep global supply chain and procurement expertise with a track record of sustainability and resilience leadership that will benefit our business and shareholders," Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO, said in the press release. 

Sourry worked at Unilever for more than three decades. She spent 13 years in marketing and brand development roles before moving on to executive positions in the company's global foods and global hair care divisions and business in the U.K. and Ireland, according to her Linkedin profile.

From 2018 until her retirement in December 2019, Sourry served as the president of North America for the British CPG company. She currently serves on the board of the apparel company PVH.

McMullen also pointed to Sourry's experience overseeing Unilever's digital efforts in the press release.

Brown and Sourry will serve on Kroger’s board until the company's annual shareholders meeting in June, where they will be up for election by the shareholders, the press release said.