Vori, the digital B2B operating system optimizing the grocery supply chain, today announced that it has expanded its Black-owned, women-led team with the appointment of Jennifer Shawgo as Head of Sales. 

With more than 20 years of experience in the grocery industry working with natural CPG brands, Shawgo will lead Vori’s sales initiatives and drive the adoption of the company’s transformative supply chain management platform to empower grocery retailers and suppliers as well. 

The addition of Shawgo to the Vori team comes on the heels of several new partnerships and a major Southern California expansion. Over the past few months, Vori has announced a tech partnership with TrueCommerce; a partnership with (and investment from) Mollie Stone’s Markets; expansion into Southern California with 100+ new suppliers, and new grocery retail partners; and a partnership with KeHE Distributors. 

“Vori is uniquely positioned at the intersection of regional and national suppliers and retailers as an agnostic third-party partner with the industry experience and knowledge to solve actual grocery issues,” said Shawgo. “I’m thrilled to join the best and brightest in both Silicon Valley and grocery to positively impact access to inventory, reduce food waste, and modify the industry’s common practice of throwing labor at systematic gaps.” 

Shawgo is a widely respected expert in food policy, natural grocery wholesale distribution, sales management, and supply chain analytics. She comes to Vori from KeHE Distributors, where she led the company’s strategic vision and execution of growth initiatives for independent grocery retailers in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. She previously led the relationship for KeHE with INFRA (Independent Natural Food Retailers Association) nationally as the Senior Director of Sales. Prior to KeHE, Shawgo held sales and leadership roles at Mountain People’s Warehouse, UNFI, and Nature’s Best. She has served as the Organic Trade Association lead for KeHE and also served on the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Committee (COPAC) for the California State Organic Association. 

Having grown up as the daughter of a regional POS business owner, Shawgo developed a passion for food policy, sustainability, and health through organic agriculture. Throughout her career, she found that the grocery supply chain is complex and fragmented due to customer demand and industry silos, and that most solutions meant to fill known gaps are simply not sustainable or holistic. This awareness has bolstered her determination to find and implement effective solutions that grow and evolve with the industry’s challenges and remain in service of independent retailers. 

“Jennifer’s vast experience and passion for food justice and transformation in the grocery industry are perfectly aligned with our long-term vision here at Vori,” said Brandon Hill, CEO and co-founder of Vori. “Our platform is transforming the inventory replenishment process, and with Jennifer’s granular understanding of the complexities of the supply chain, as well as her impeccable reputation as a connoisseur of technology in the space, she will drive growth, enabling us to effectively unite the supply chain to ensure communities have access to the goods they need and love in order to live, work, learn, and play—starting with food.”