BOISE, Idaho, Sept. 10, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Albertsons Companies has promoted Own Brands President Geoff White to Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer.

Under White’s leadership, Own Brands penetration grew from 23.0% in FY2017 to 25.3% in the company's most recently reported quarter. O Organics and Open Nature represent 23.6% of the total natural and organic sales at Albertsons Cos., a 152 basis point growth from Q1 of FY2018. In 2018, the Own Brands team launched Signature Reserve, an ultra-premium label that features globally sourced ingredients.

“Geoff is a customer-centric leader who brings a unique combination of creativity and analytics to achieve growth,” said Vivek Sankaran, President and Chief Executive Officer. “I look forward to working with him to transform our merchandising capabilities.”

White began his career with the company as a general clerk at Safeway in Burnaby, BC, in 1981. He eventually became director of Canadian produce operations for 210 stores. He held leadership roles in produce, dairy, frozen, deli/food service, produce, floral, and branded concepts at the Safeway corporate office from 2004 to 2015. In 2015, he was named senior vice president of marketing and merchandising for the Northern California Division. In 2017, he was appointed president of the company’s Own Brands team.

About Albertsons Companies
Locally great and nationally strong, Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States. We operate stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia under 20 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs, as well as meal kit company Plated based in New York City. Albertsons Companies is committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood. In 2018 alone, along with the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the company gave $262 million in food and financial support. These efforts helped millions of people in the areas of hunger relief, education, cancer research and treatment, programs for people with disabilities and veterans’ outreach.

Christine Wilcox
Albertsons Companies
208-395-4163
Christine.Wilcox@albertsons.com