Tammy DeBoer, President – Harris Teeter

Tammy DeBoer, President of Harris Teeter, has more than 30 years of diverse retail experience including operations, merchandising, marketing, brand strategy, mergers and acquisitions. She leads the strategic growth and development of Harris Teeter, a division of Kroger. Tammy joined Harris Teeter in 2020, leading Operations, Merchandising and Marketing, and overseeing the company’s 257 stores across seven states and the Washington, D.C. footprint. Tammy also led Finance, Human Resources and Information Systems.

Previously, she served as an executive with Family Dollar Stores, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dollar Tree, Inc., where she served as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer. Prior to joining Family Dollar, she spent 19 years with Delhaize where she held various leadership roles and led the company through significant strategic growth and development.

Tammy has been recognized several times as “One of the Most Influential Women in Mass Market Retail” by MMR and by Supermarket News as a top “Executives to Watch.” Progressive Grocer named her a “Top Female Executive in the Supermarket Industry,” the Griffin Report listed her as a “Top Female Executive in the Grocery Industry,” and the Mecklenburg Times recognized her as one of the “50 Most Influential Women in Charlotte.” Tammy holds a bachelor’s degree in Technology from Appalachian State University and completed the Supermarket Business Executive course with Cornell University. She has served on multiple boards including Charlotte Family Housing, Communities In Schools, Network of Executive Women. 

Tony Sarsam, Chief Executive Officer – SpartanNash

As CEO of Fortune 400 grocery retailer and distributor SpartanNash (Nasdaq: SPTN), Tony Sarsam leads 17,500 Associates serving customers in all 50 states as well as U.S. military troops overseas. Tony 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, Tony has come to understand every side of the consumer-packaged goods business – from the plant floor to the C-suite. Before joining SpartanNash, Tony 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% and establish a dominant 80% share of the complete meal salad category. Tony’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, Tony 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. Tony 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. Tony holds a Bachelor of Science, Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering from Arizona State University and a Master of Science in Management from Stanford. He resides in Grand Rapids, Mich. with his wife and children.

Jason English, Managing Director, Global Investment Research, Packaged Foods, HPC – Goldman Sachs

Jason is the lead equity analyst covering Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) sectors. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2010 as a Vice President covering the Package Food sector. He expanded his coverage to include the Household and Personal Care Sectors in 2012 and was named Managing Director in 2015. Jason was then named Business Unit Leader, with management oversight of the broader retail, restaurant, leisure and lodging verticals (in addition to maintaining his core CPG coverage) at the beginning of 2019. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Jason worked on the Packaged Food research team at J.P. Morgan and Bear Stearns.

Before pursuing a career on Wall Street, Jason spent nine years working in brand management and field sales assignments at various CPG firms. He started his career at Pepperidge Farm (a division of Campbell Soup) before moving to Anheuser-Busch Inbev’s US office where he rose to become the Brand Manager on Dos Equis. Then, after a short stint at private-equity backed Atkins Nutritionals, Jason moved to Kellogg where he lead the Frozen Breakfast (i.e., Eggo) marketing innovation efforts before moving over to become the Senior Brand Manager on Frosted Mini Wheats.

Jason earned a BS in Business Management and Marketing from Cornell University, where he was a member of the Food Marketing Fellowship program, and an MBA in Management and Marketing from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Ana Krieger, Chief, Division of Sleep Neurology and Professor of Clinical Medicine – Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University

Dr. Krieger is a physician scientist and the Medical Director of the Weill Cornell Center for Sleep Medicine. She is a Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Neurology and Genetic Medicine and an Associate Attending at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and at Rockefeller University Hospital. Dr. Krieger holds board certification in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, and Sleep Medicine.

For over 25 years, Dr. Krieger has been actively involved in patient care, training of sleep specialists, and sleep disorders education while also developing her academic career as a clinician scientist in translational sleep medicine and technology research development. She is a funded investigator by the NIH and National Science Foundation for research studies evaluating new technologies for monitoring sleep and respiratory disturbances. Her collaborations extend to renowned academic institutions, including Cornell University, Cold Spring Laboratories, CUNY and Rockefeller University including clinical research studies in the U.S. and Tanzania.

Dr. Krieger served as Chair of the Mentored Transition to Independence grant review committee at the National Institutes of Health – National Health Lung and Blood Institute (NIH-NHLBI), with her term ending in June 2022. She is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the New York Academy of Medicine. She is a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar, and a recipient of Career Development Awards by the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Krieger keeps a busy academic practice in sleep medicine, serving as the Chief of the Division of Sleep Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine. She is a sought after speaker and advisor to professional athletes and healthcare/wellness groups in the legal, financial, and technology sectors.

Over the past many years, Dr. Krieger has been featured as Top Doctor in the U.S. News and World Report, Consumer Research Council of America, Castle Connolly, New York Magazine, and The New York Times. Dr. Krieger is listed as America’s Top 1% Most Honored Professionals by the American Registry, and one of the Exceptional Women in Medicine by Castle Connolly.

Chris Johnson, Senior Research Analyst, Transportation – Cleveland Research Company

Chris is a Senior Analyst at Cleveland Research Company, joining the firm in 2010. His coverage includes transportation, capital goods, machinery, and heavy truck markets. Chris graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.S. in Economics and Political Science. He is a CFA ® charterholder and member of the CFA Institute.

Ben Metzger, Executive Director, Traditional Retail Council – Cleveland Research Company

Ben is the Executive Director of Cleveland Research Company’s Traditional Retail Council. He is focused on gathering insights, identifying inflections and providing actionable conclusions for suppliers across the mass, club, grocery and dollar channels. Ben holds two Bachelor’s Degrees in Finance and Economics and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Miami University.

Bryan Gildenberg, Founder/CEO – Confluencer Commerce

Bryan Gildenberg is an industry expert, keynote speaker, and advisor on the commerce landscape. With over 25 years of experience helping retailers, brands and their trading partners adapt to and win in the changing retail world, Bryan is a trusted subject matter expert on both physical and digital retail, including retail ecommerce.

Bryan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and private events, and his perspective has been featured in dozens of media publications and news outlets such as CNBC, the BBC and Fox Business. He is co-host of the popular CPG Guys podcast as well as The Gildenberg Omnicomment, a weekly perspective on omni-channel strategy.

As Founder and CEO of Confluencer Commerce, a consultancy aimed at helping brands and leaders navigate the confluence of retail, media and content, Brian works with brands, agencies, and retailers to drive best-in-class commerce strategies. Bryan also leads the North America business for Retail Cities, a global retail research business that helps clients get and maintain a finger on the pulse of the global retail landscape.

Bryan spent over 20 years as Chief Knowledge Officer for Retail at Kantar, the world’s leading marketing data and analytics company. He also served as SVP of Commerce for Omnicom’s retail marketing agencies. Bryan holds an M.A. with Honors from Cambridge University and an MBA from Babson College in Wellesley, MA.

Ian Jenkins, Global Head of Insight + Strategy – 4media

Ian is a senior qualitative and quantitative brand practitioner with over 20 years insight experience into consumer behavior, communication and brand development.

Following senior research roles in the automotive industry Ian was, for over 12 years, co-founding partner in Prescient and a board Director at Loewy Group International. Since 2011, Ian has been leading Intrinsic which, in 2015, merged with Integrated marketing communications agency 4Media-group.
As 4media’s global head of Insight & Strategy Ian helps companies use insight to develop new ideas, explore different opportunities and identify better ways of doing things. This includes work for many of the world’s biggest names in retailing, automotive, finance, FMCG and technology including, among others, Bentley motors, Subaru, HSBC, Barclays Wealth, Camelot, O2, Disney, Goldman Sachs Inc., Michael Kors, Agent Provocateur and Microsoft.

David Portalatin, Sr. VP and Industry Advisor – Circana

David Portalatin is author of NPD’s Annual Report on Eating Patterns in America, which is a compilation of the food and foodservice research the company conducts. As an industry advisor, David provides information, insights, and analysis on how U.S. consumers eat and drink, as well as their attitudes and motivations, diet and nutrition, snacking, personal characteristics, and usage of restaurants and other foodservice outlets.

David works closely with food manufacturers and retailers and foodservice distributors, manufacturers, and operators, sharing strategic business insights about current and future eating patterns and the state of the U.S. foodservice industry. His diverse background and experience give him an in-depth understanding of consumer behavior and foodservice industry dynamics. Previously, he was NPD’s industry analyst in the convenience retailing, automotive aftermarket, and motor fuels industries. David held various positions in foodservice wholesale distribution and convenience retailing before joining NPD in 1999.

David is a frequent featured speaker at food and foodservice industry events, corporate conferences, and executive meetings. He also serves as a media resource; his comments have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other nationally recognized media outlets.