Albertsons Companies, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, has appointed Mary Beth West to its board of directors.
West has a proven track record of innovation and transformation across myriad facets of retail. She began her career at Kraft Foods and over the course of 21 years of working on some of the food industry’s most iconic brands like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Oreo and Maxwell House coffee, she was named chief marketing officer in 2007. When Kraft Foods spun off its snack foods division in 2012, West went with the new company, Mondelez International, and served as EVP, chief category and marketing officer from 2012 to 2014.
When West left Mondelez, she joined J.C. Penney Co. Inc. in 2015, after having served on its board of directors from November 2005 to May 2015. West was then tapped by The Hershey Co. in 2017 to become its SVP and chief growth officer. She drove the company’s growth and marketing strategies as well as communication, disruptive innovation, research and development, mergers and acquisitions and ignited the transformation of the company’s offerings beyond chocolate into snack categories before retiring in January 2020.
West earned an MBA in marketing from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in management from Nazareth College in Rochester. She is currently a member of the board of directors of Hasbro Inc., a position she has held since June 2016.
“Mary Beth is one of the most accomplished leaders in marketing and retail today, and I am delighted to have her join our board of directors” said Vivek Sankaran, president and CEO of Albertsons Cos. “Her expertise in the food industry as well as her skill in driving innovation and consumer engagement will lend added depth and dimension to how our team builds lasting relationships with our customers.”
