10 grocery category management experts
Canada-based leaders from Sobeys and Loblaw Companies Limited make up three of these grocery category management experts, alongside seven in the US from Food Lion, Albertsons Companies, Stop & Shop, Giant Food, Gelsons Markets and Amazon, with center store, frozen, dairy, and deli and bakery among the categories in their titles. They suit a grocer reorganizing category teams or deciding how assortment, pricing and shelf space get set.
Professionals to explore
Adrian Baker
LinkedInExperience: Vice President of Center Store Category Management · Food Lion
Center store category management and merchandising planning are the topics to bring to Adrian Baker, Vice President of Center Store Category Management at Food Lion from 2018 to 2026 and Vice President of Merchandising Planning there since September 2026. Baker was also Director of Category Management at Delhaize America (2007–2018), and Category Manager - Dairy (2003–2005) and Director of Procurement (2001–2003) at Food Lion.
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Amanda Galante
LinkedInExperience: Former Senior Category Director, Super Market Merchandising · Loblaw Companies Limited
Since December 2024, Amanda Galante has been Senior Category Director, Super Market Merchandising at Loblaw Companies Limited, after Category Director, Super Market Division (2022–2024). Galante's other Loblaw titles include Director, Loblaw Brands - Projects, Data and Analytics (2020–2022) and Director, Control Brand Sourcing (2017–2020), and Galante describes category, merchandising and procurement work across national and private brands.
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Fiona Lui
LinkedInExperience: National Director Merchandising · Sobeys
National Director Merchandising at Sobeys since December 2023, Fiona Lui was National Category Manager - Grocery (2018–2023) and Category Manager - Grocery (2015–2017) there. Lui describes using analytics to identify and track consumer trends and leading cross-functional teams such as supply chain and logistics, retail operations and Private Label, so national grocery category and private label questions fit.
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Gina Kostkowski
LinkedInExperience: National Category Director · Albertsons Companies
Frozen category planning questions suit Gina Kostkowski, National Category Director at Albertsons Companies since July 2021 and responsible for strategic plans to drive sales and profitability for categories including Frozen Vegetable, Potato and Desserts. Kostkowski was Assistant Grocery Sales Manager at Albertsons Companies (2016–2021), Category Solutions Analyst at The Save Mart Companies (2014–2016) and Category Analyst II- Meals and Ingredients at Safeway (2010–2014).
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Jason Bidart
LinkedInExperience: Private brand and food merchandising questions fit Jason Bidart, Director Category Management - Dairy, Frozen, Health & Beauty, and Homecare · Giant Food; Former Director Category Management - Grocery & General Merchandise · Giant Food
Private brand and food merchandising questions fit Jason Bidart, Director Category Management - Dairy, Frozen, Health & Beauty, and Homecare at Giant Food since August 2025, after Director Category Management - Grocery & General Merchandise there (2024–2025). Bidart was Vice President Of Merchandising, Food (2022–2024) and Sr. Director of Merchandising, Food (2020–2022) at Thrive Market and Vice President - Private Brand Programs at Fairway Market (2018–2020).
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Kevin Costigan
LinkedInExperience: Senior Category Director · Loblaw Companies Limited
From 2013 to 2023, Kevin Costigan was Senior Category Director at Loblaw Companies Limited, with a team of 18 responsible for category management across multiple banners of the Loblaws conventional division, including Loblaws, Zehrs and Provigo. Costigan was Vice President Merchandising & Category Management at Rexall Pharmacy Group Ltd. (2012–2013) and Director of Catagory Managment at Shoppers Drug Mart (1997–2010), a fit for multi-banner category questions.
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Leah Gronewold
LinkedInExperience: Director, Category Leader, Grocery · Amazon
A $1B P&L for Center Store and Frozen categories in Amazon Fresh stores and online sat with Leah Gronewold as Director, Category Leader, Grocery at Amazon from 2024 to 2026, along with a team of 73 across vendor management, category management, merchandising, marketing and program management. Gronewold was also Director, Product Management, Amazon Fresh (2021–2024) and Senior Manager, Vendor Management, Amazon Fresh (2019–2021), and has been an External Advisor at Bain & Company since September 2026.
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Natasha Brinegar
LinkedInExperience: Vice President of Category Management, Center Store · Food Lion
Natasha Brinegar has been Vice President of Category Management, Center Store at Food Lion since January 2018, and held Director of Category Management, Center Store (2016–2017), Merchandising Manager (2005–2009), Category Analyst (2000–2005) and Buyer (1998–2000) there. With each of these titles at Food Lion, Brinegar is well placed for questions on building a center store category team from analyst and buyer roles upward.
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Nick Sokolovskiy
LinkedInExperience: Director of Category Management · Gelsons Markets
Nick Sokolovskiy has been Director of Category Management at Gelsons Markets since June 2026, and held four other Gelsons titles: Director of Merchandising Operations (2022–2026), Category Manager (2017–2022), Assistant Category Manager (2017) and Liquor Department Purchasing Clerk (2015–2017). Sokolovskiy describes a data-oriented, customer-first approach to creating differentiation from competition, a fit for questions on using data to set a supermarket's category plans.
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Tiffany Taylor
LinkedInExperience: Vice President Category Management - Deli, Bakery, Prepared Foods & HMR · Stop & Shop
At Stop & Shop, Tiffany Taylor has been Vice President Category Management - Deli, Bakery, Prepared Foods & HMR since October 2023 and Director of Deli Bake since 2019. Taylor held three BJ's Wholesale Club titles, Buyer - Specialty Cheese & Prepared Foods (2012–2016), Category Director - Perishables (2016–2018) and Vice President, DMM - Dairy, Deli, Bakery, Commercial Bakery & Prepared Foods (2018–2019), the right record for deli, bakery and prepared foods questions.
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Choose the right perspective
Center store decisions fit Adrian Baker or Natasha Brinegar at Food Lion, or Leah Gronewold, who held the Center Store and Frozen P&L at Amazon Fresh. Tiffany Taylor covers deli, bakery and prepared foods, Gina Kostkowski and Jason Bidart frozen and dairy, and the Canadian leads, Fiona Lui, Amanda Galante and Kevin Costigan, suit national and private brand questions across banners.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01How do you decide which items to add or cut when you reset a grocery category's assortment?
- 02How should pricing, promotion and shelf space decisions be split between the category team and the suppliers funding them?
- 03When a grocer operates several banners, which category decisions should be national and which should stay with each banner?
About this directory
This is a professional research starting point based on business profile data retrieved on . Titles and companies reflect that source snapshot; roles marked former had ended by then. Check the linked profiles for current details. Inclusion does not imply Instant Expert membership or availability.