CSN 2023Future Leaders in Convenience

Recognizing the 2023

With the pace of innovation in the convenience store industry accelerating, companies more than ever need smart, capable leaders to help their businesses meet the times. Convenience Store News’ sixth-annual Future Leaders in Convenience (FLIC) Awards — presented Nov. 16 in Pittsburgh — recognized a record class of 36 young leaders from retailer, distributor and supplier companies in the c-store industry. These up-and-comers are already making significant contributions to their companies and the industry at large.

The 2023 Future Leaders in Convenience are:

• Akers supports store operations by determining product promotions that offer customers strategic pricing and assortment in the beer category. She is responsible for the largest geography and revenue contribution across the entire Alcohol Team at 7-Eleven. • She joined the company in 2020 as a product development manager for private brands, where she developed innovative products across the portfolio. Akers was promoted to her current role in 2022. Prior to joining 7-Eleven, the FLIC honoree spent seven years in the food and beverage industry in product development, marketing and merchandising. • Akers is a member of the 7-Eleven Young Professionals group and the 7-Eleven Network of Women. Additionally, she is a Level Two Certified Tea Craftsman and formerly a Certified Coffee Q Grader.

Category Manager, Beer West 7-Eleven Inc.

Gretchen Akers

• Aucapina’s influence extends to overseeing 126 7-Eleven stores owned by franchisees, as well as peers across the organization. She excels in leadership, specializing in both people and project management. She collaborates closely with area leaders and franchisees, providing motivation, coaching, training and overall leadership development • In her role, she conducts comprehensive analyses of sales data, market trends and competitive activities to formulate strategies aimed at increasing sales, enhancing profitability and elevating the overall customer experience. • Aucapina’s journey at 7-Eleven began 12 years ago as a cashier in a corporate store in Queens, N.Y. During her tenure, she successfully introduced the Made to Cook Breakfast program, implementing it in corporate stores across New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas and California. She also orchestrated the launch of a specialty coffee program spanning more than 200 stores in California, Nevada, Utah, New York, New Jersey and Arizona, amid the challenging circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Market Leader, Golden Gate Market 7-Eleven Inc.

Nathali Aucapina

• Callen oversees trade marketing initiatives for the wholesale and retail channels for BeatBox Beverages nationwide. This encompasses the development, creation and execution of campaigns that highlight new markets/states of distribution, new product launches and new packaging. • Under her direction, the company has launched multiple nationwide campaigns that introduced specific versions of BeatBox to new markets and to major convenience store chains. She holds the Level 2 Award for Wine & Spirits from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, with distinction. • Callen started her career as a sales representative before being promoted to district manager at Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, where she was tasked with overseeing 7-Eleven as one of her largest accounts. From there, she expanded her levels of responsibility, becoming market development manager at Barefoot Wine prior to her current role at BeatBox.

Trade Marketing Manager BeatBox Beverages

Makenna Callen

• Chivington has direct oversight of nine High’s convenience stores, with an emphasis on growing same-store sales, fostering a superior customer service culture, mentoring and training, and controlling expenses. In addition to these tasks, he plays a key role in loss prevention and inventory management, and works alongside the food development team to ensure his sites provide a fresh and fast food offering. • He became a part of the High’s family when he joined parent company Carroll Motor Fuels as an area manager. Having doubled the gallon output in his territory in one year, Chivington was promoted to High's as a district manager. • Within the first year of this role, he has managed to develop top performance in customer service shops, loyalty rankings and overall sales growth. He recently received his category management certification through NACS.

District Manager High’s

Austyn Chivington

• Cousart’s responsibilities fall into four main categories: managing relationships with key convenience retail customers, collaborating with system bottling partners, influencing the development of company channel strategies, and driving alignment and execution across various internal stakeholders to achieve growth and success in the convenience retail sector for The Coca-Cola Co. • He was appointed to help develop the evolution of immediate consumption packaging for Coca-Cola’s trademark brands within the convenience channel. By introducing a fresh approach and piloting occasion-based packaging lineups, Cousart helped address retailers' desire to drive recruitment and personalized experience in outlets. • During his 15-year career with Coca-Cola, he has been a multiyear “Best of the Best” sales performance incentive winner and was elected to represent the Coca-Cola Convenience Retail Team on the National Retail Sales Engagement Council.

Vice President, Sales & Customer Leadership, Convenience Retail, North America Operating Unit The Coca-Cola Co.

Jamie Cousart

• Eggen manages the long-term fuel sourcing decisions and strategies for Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s (ACT) U.S. footprint — which is 800 million gallons of fuel per month — in addition to supplier relationships and demand forecasting. He is also the lead for fuel rebrands, overseeing the transition of more than 1,000 sites to the Circle K fuel brand. • He has nearly a decade of experience with Circle K, starting his career as a fuel pricing/supply analyst in 2014 before being promoted to fuel supply manager for North America in 2017 as Circle K established its Global Fuels Department. In 2020, Eggen was elevated to director of fuel supply and trading as ACT set up a supply hub in Houston. • Eggen has completed the ACT Leadership Development Program and NACS Executive Leadership Program. He received the Spirit of Pride Leadership Award from Circle K, as well as the US Gas and Diesel Procurement, Supply Optimization and Trading Agreement Award for helping to establish the Musket Circle K partnership in 2020.

Director, Fuel Supply & Trading, North America Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc./Circle K

Joshua Eggen

• Grubbs is accountable for all of the technology across RaceTrac and RaceWay’s nearly 800 convenience store locations. He champions investment to solve the company’s IT challenges, is responsible for 60 percent to 75 percent of the organization’s total IT spend, and maintains the uptime of more than 60,000 devices in the fleet to create a frictionless experience for team members and guests. • Under his direction, the RaceTrac IT team rolled out a new architecture that reduced critical hardware failures by 90 percent and noncritical device failures by 30 percent. In addition to these improvements, the chain experienced a 40 percent reduction in customer support tickets related to either hardware or software in-store. And, with fewer issues arising overall, the response time for addressing these tickets was reduced by 75 percent. • Grubbs is an active member of the Emory University MBA Alumni Group, where he contributes to the mentorship and professional development of MBA candidates and alumni.

Executive Director of Store Systems & Technologies RaceTrac Inc.

Tyler Grubbs

• Harbeck executes Harbor Foods’ digital marketing strategy, which represents three corporate social media accounts and six consumer-facing brand accounts. Additionally, she manages corporate brand standards and marketing needs and assets for five distribution centers across the West Coast. • Among her accomplishments, Harbeck established a customer journey by identifying company touchpoints and working with executive leadership to create collateral to support the overall customer experience. She won Harbor’s prestigious President’s Club Award, which is given each year to team members who had outstanding performance the previous year and lived out the Harbor values of being genuine, motivated, resourceful and friendly in their day-to-day work. • Harbeck is also recognized for establishing and leading a DEI Committee that implements and oversees diversity, equity and inclusion practices and training.

Marketing Manager Harbor Foods

Melissa Harbeck

• Harrison is the regional director of operations in training for ACT’s Florida Business Unit. In this role, she oversees the day-to-day operations of more than 80 stores, encompassing more than 700 team members. She consistently has the No. 1 region in sales lift and has helped reduce turnover by nearly 44 percent. • In her nearly seven years with Circle K, Harrison has had two relocations into two different business units, and has successfully overseen two markets with more than 30 stores, and prepared ride-along training for potential store manager development. • Harrison is active in the Diversity & Inclusion Committee for the Florida Business Unit. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, she also belongs to ACT’s PRIDE business resource group and is a member of the ACT Women's Council.

Regional Operations Director in Training Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc./Circle K

Shelby Harrison

• Hunt is a third-generation member of the family business. After previously serving as director for the largest master distributor of Hunt Brothers Pizza, DBH Distributing, he was recently promoted to vice president of operations for both DBH Distributing and Hunt Brothers Pizza. • In his new role, Hunt continues to serve in a leadership position across sales, operations, supply chain, distributor support, human resources and community outreach for DBH Distributing, while also now overseeing purchasing, IT and human resources for Hunt Brothers Pizza. DBH Distributing’s geographic area spans more than 4,500 locations in nine states and eight countries, while Hunt Brothers Pizza partners with more than 9,000 locations in 32 states nationwide. • Hunt exceeded the requirement to work at least two years outside of the company prior to joining the family business by spending four years with the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. During his tenure with the organization, he managed and formalized industry-specific programs and a mentor network.

Vice President of Operations DBH Distributing & Hunt Brothers Pizza

Robinson Hunt

• Kamboj has his hands in multiple brands across different companies. He oversees site development and procurement, design, organizational development and technological infrastructure for Millbrook Markets; and is responsible for marketing and the day-to-day operations of Millbrook Markets, an Eddy Express Car Wash and two quick-service restaurant concepts. • According to his nominator, Kamboj is a connector and brings a varied skillset to the table, helping bridge the gap between foodservice and convenience to provide a different experience to customers. Through his efforts, KFT has increased its margins by roughly 15 percent on an annual basis since 2018. • Additionally, he is codirector of KFT’s Denny’s restaurant locations. His group was a runner-up for the 2019 Denny’s Franchisee of the Year award. Kamboj is a member of NACS and the International Council of Shopping Centers as well.

Chief Strategy Officer KFT Holdings LLC

Ankush Kamboj

• Kaminsky has spent the past year leading the charge on three of Anheuser-Busch’s (AB) national c-store accounts: Circle K, EG America and GPM Investments LLC. He develops retailer-specific shopper marketing program strategies, owns shopper programming on a national scale, and oversees a robust media budget to support these accounts. • According to his nominator, Kaminsky has been critical in evolving AB’s shopper marketing program for the convenience channel, which has resulted in positive impacts across sales, volume and share. He recently earned the Effie Marketing Effectiveness Certification from the Effie Marketing Academy. • Prior to joining AB two years ago, Kaminsky spent five years at L’Oreal partnering with the brand marketing, shopping marketing, ecommerce and field sales teams to develop and lead omnichannel sell-in and sell-out strategies at key accounts across multiple channels.

Shopper Marketing Manager, Small Format Anheuser-Busch

Eli Kaminsky

• Kerekes’ responsibilities include A/P and A/R reconciliations, bank reconciliations, general ledger maintenance, rebate billing and accruals, inventory tracking, and other related duties. He also acts in a business analyst role in support of senior leadership and generates key KPIs. • He built his background in accounting and finance while working in a full-time accounting role while attending college, leading him to become the youngest person to attend S&G Stores’ regular senior executive team meetings. • According to his nominator, Kerekes has a keen eye and attention to detail when it comes to identifying key store issues, and he is well respected by both his coworkers and the executive team that frequently relies upon his reporting.

Accountant S&G Stores

Daniel Kerekes

• Klingensmith oversees all aspects of beer pricing and promotions for the entire Yesway chain while managing price labels across stores, implementing electronic invoicing and collaborating closely with the merchandising team. • Having started her c-store industry journey with Allsup’s as a pricebook administrator prior to the chain’s acquisition by Yesway, Klingensmith contributed to the companies’ rapid integration post-merger and assumed a leadership role in an area important to overall profitability. • Both pricebook integrity and invoicing for beer distributors improved dramatically under her watch. Known as a quick study, Klingensmith continues to drive profitable results in category management and serves as a team player who works with multiple departments to ensure things run smoothly and correctly.

Assistant Category Manager Yesway

Leanna Klingensmith

• Already a seasoned industrial goods professional with a successful career in development and consulting within the global industrial goods sectors, Kriesche cofounded smoodi in 2018 out of Harvard’s Innovation Lab. His vision is to make nutritious food both convenient and universally accessible. • Drawing from his MBA at Harvard Business School, his expertise in supply chain management and his mechanical engineering degree, Kriesche developed an innovative and proprietary automated all-fruit smoothie machine and the corresponding supply chain. Since its commercial market launch in 2021, smoodi has grown its revenue by 25 percent month over month. • Kriesche remains a key driver behind smoodi’s success, further establishing himself as a forward-thinking leader, while mentoring upcoming entrepreneurs.

Founder & CEO Smoodi Inc.

Pascal Kriesche

• Mathewes is responsible for site acquisition and entitlement, and negotiating contracts and leases for new development and surplus property disposition. He is currently overseeing Parker’s expansion into multiple key markets, including Augusta, Ga., and Myrtle Beach, S.C., with more than 40 sites in the pipeline for acquisition. • Since joining Parker’s in 2018, Mathewes has expertly negotiated $40 million in contracts and leases for new developments, played a critical role in the company’s strategic expansion into new and existing markets, and assisted with finding innovative ways to develop a stronger foothold in the Charleston, S.C., market. • Mathewes is an innovative and dynamic leader who builds relationships with local stakeholders while also serving as a quintessential team player who expertly juggles multiple projects, his nominator noted.

Real Estate Project Manager Parker’s

Thomas Mathewes

• Meckstroth supports Ferrara’s largest sales pillar that is focused on convenience retailers across the country. She manages 13 accounts, including six Circle K business units and seven national retailers. Additionally, Meckstroth serves as a hands-on mentor to Ferrara’s summer interns. • She is known for delivering proactive insights that deliver category growth and elevate her c-store customers. She identifies marketplace gaps and actionable macro trends, making key assortment and merchandising recommendations and more. • Meckstroth is a crucial cross-functional team member who leads with integrity, her nominator said, and has demonstrated her commitment to helping grow young individuals within the industry. In 2023, she was recognized as a Ferrara Value Award winner for integrity, as she truly leads with this value in her work.

Category Manager Ferrera Candy Co.

Emily Meckstroth

• Windon Matthews oversees trade show planning and execution at Imperial Trading, where she also maintains the marketing budget for annual programs and is the graphic designer for all in-house design needs and trade show materials. • Known as a rising leader, she previously rolled out and led an internal initiative to attract and retain top talent, and changed the company’s overly long mission statement to a two-word mantra that employees live and breathe daily: “Bring it!” • In addition to her marketing efforts, Windon Matthews is breaking down barriers around DEI in the c-store industry. She fosters strong partnerships with Southern University at New Orleans and Xavier University of Louisiana, and is a hands-on mentor to the student interns she brings on throughout the school year.

Marketing Manager Imperial Trading Co.

Stacey Windon Matthews

• May leads Reynolds’ customer and association management for the Northeast and Midwest regions of the country. He is directly responsible for nearly 75 trade associations and involved with multiple industrywide company initiatives, such as TruAge and WeCard. • In his current role, May is commonly required to work above his job level to ensure that prioritization of legislative activity remains at the highest level, and he regularly acts as a conduit of information for the entirety of Reynolds’ internal marketing department. • May consistently delivers above expectations and has received multiple internal awards. He is known for being dependable and trustworthy, and is someone who is not afraid to make his perspective known regardless of the audience, according to his nominator.

Director of External Relations Reynolds American Inc.

Kyle May

• McGowen manages a 17-person team at McLane that handles all day-to-day and long-term projects for the Circle K account nationwide, a $6 billion customer in volume. This includes managing the nine Circle K business units serviced by 14 McLane distribution centers, with more than 5,000 deliveries each week. • During his 10 years with McLane, McGowen has successfully managed a variety of both independent and nationwide retailers, and created a robust talent pipeline that has been modeled in other departments across the company. • He runs the sales internship program and has received multiple company awards over the years. McGowen is known as a key leader at McLane who is expected to move the company forward as his career progresses.

Senior National Account Manager McLane Co. Inc.

Adam McGowen

• Navolanic oversees category management functions for the Mars Wrigley headquarters team consisting of 40-plus customer managers in more than 15,000 stores responsible for $230 million, with responsibilities that include planogram analysis, best-in-class merchandising implementation and data analytics creation. • His scope of responsibility has continually increased throughout his time with Advantage, where he takes the lead in developing customer-facing category management recommendations. He was named a category captain at an additional six retailers this year. • Navolanic’s nominator describes him as “the most progressive leader in the broker category manager space who offers a great understanding of the retail environment and is deeply trusted by his customers.”

National Category Manager Advantage Sales & Marketing (R Squared Solutions)

Justin Navolanic

• Noonan leads strategic partnerships and acquisitions at Circle K, where his work includes building comprehensive plans to identify acquisition opportunities that complement both existing geographies and the company’s core capabilities. • He enjoys collaborating with colleagues and shaping the company's future alongside leadership. Since joining Circle K, he has already worked side by side with senior leadership to acquire numerous businesses, develop strategies, and gain the respect and trust of many key stakeholders across North America. • According to his employer, Noonan is a true testament to the company’s “growing together” vision as he strives to fulfill the retailer’s mission to become the world’s preferred destination for convenience and mobility.

Head of Business Development Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc./Circle K

T.J. Noonan

• Parr began his career with Lassus Bros Oil as a customer service representative before quickly making his way up the ladder to his current role, where he directly oversees operations and leadership of eight managers and one district coordinator. • Since his most recent promotion, Parr has grown his district’s sales, improved its turnover, and “done a phenomenal job developing his team,” according to his nominator. He has developed many new managers and was instrumental in the success of the company’s most recent new-build store. • Parr strives to operate in his position through servant leadership, expressing to his team that he works for them rather than the other way around.

Convenience Operations Supervisor Lassus Bros Oil Inc.

Zachary Parr

• A fourth-generation member of the Lyons family, Raetzsch has spent nearly a decade learning the business from the ground up. As part of the purchasing department, he works as a buyer and category manager for cigarettes and tobacco. • Known as a knowledgeable observer, Raetzsch is able to easily recognize opportunities for improvements and make recommendations to improve efficiencies while reducing operational costs. Recently, he improved day-to-day processes in the warehouse. • Raetzsch believes patience and flexibility are important qualities of a leader. According to his nominator, he provides an example of hard work and commitment to everyone he interacts with and is destined to be a true leader for years to come.

Purchasing Manager/Operations Support Specialist Lyons Specialty Co.

Wilson Raetzsch

• Reddington develops and executes Ferrara’s channel-specific strategies for the company’s largest sales pillar. She has more than 14 years of experience in the convenience channel, having worked in different organizations and multiple roles in areas such as analytics, category management, sales, strategy and customer marketing. • According to her nominator, Reddington’s contributions to not only Ferrara, but the entire confectionery category, are what make her qualified for this award. She builds trusted relationships with internal and external partners by trying to drive the category for all. • Reddington views three qualities as essential for future leaders: determination, character, and maintaining a vision of the future to ensure one keeps asking for more while bringing everyone else along on the journey. The FLIC honoree will earn her MBA at the Northwestern Kellogg School of Business by the end of 2023.

Vice President of Sales, Convenience & Specialty Channels Ferrara Candy Co.

Jade Reddington

• Reiman provides human resources support and partnership to the nonstore field operations side of Casey's, which encompasses service, construction, distribution, real estate, transportation, fuel and other functions. • As her nominator pointed out, Reiman and her team continue to steadily build year-over-year advancements in the team member experience across functions that have traditionally been underserved. She was honored with the Store Supper Center Partner of the Year award at Casey’s 2023 Annual Conference for her contributions in 2022. • While her career has been consistently rooted in people operations, Casey's is the first c-store company Reiman has worked for, having spent most of her career in hospitality. She relies on her guest service background to strengthen her impact with the variety of leaders she partners with to improve the team member experience at Casey’s.

Director, Human Resources Business Partner Casey’s General Stores Inc.

Jenna Reiman

• Sherwood is responsible for enterprise data platforms, data engineering, data architecture and data governance in support of Casey’s stakeholders across the business. His role encompasses acting as a people leader, a strategic partner, a technical advisor to his peers in data and technology, and a mentor to those on his team. • He started his career at Casey’s as an individual contributor before rising through the ranks to become one of the company’s thought leaders and technical experts. As his team has matured, he has grown into his leadership position and helped shape the data landscape for Casey’s, according to his nominator. • Sherwood is a graduate of Casey’s Leadership Excellence Program and was selected to represent the Data & Analytics Team as part of the Casey’s Commitment Conference, held earlier this year.

Data Engineering Manager Casey’s General Stores Inc.

Clint Sherwood

• Silver, who served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps, joined 7-Eleven in 2020. He acts as the principal analyst leading efforts for payments fraud strategy at 7-Eleven stores across the United States and Canada. • Not only has he established himself as one of the brightest minds in digital payments, driving dynamic new approaches to payments fraud management internally at 7-Eleven, but he is also recognized as a leading voice for a new generation of payments professionals in the convenience and merchant industries, his nominator noted. • Silver is an active Certified Fraud Examiner. He is also a member of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators, National Petroleum Card Association, and co-merchant leader for Pay-Tech, a special interest group within the Merchant Advisory Group. He was a speaker at the 2023 Merchant Risk Council Conference.

Payments Fraud Strategy Analyst, Treasury 7-Eleven Inc.

Michael Silver

• Stump began his career in the c-store industry as a Double Kwik associate while attending the University of Pikeville. A combination of hard work and determination led to his promotion to manager, and eventually to his current position as regional director and category manager for the company. • According to his nominator, Stump’s influence and contribution to Double Kwik can be found in every department and positively impacts every employee. • He is a member of the 2023 class of the Patton Leadership Institute, a program designed to develop and enhance the leadership skills of emerging and existing leaders in southeast Kentucky. By the end of this year, Stump will also earn his MBA from the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky.

Category Manager & Regional Director Childers Oil Co./Double Kwik

Corey Stump

• Overseeing the cigarettes, tobacco and kratom categories at Maverik, Thornock is known as a subject matter expert on loyalty with age-restricted items. During her tenure, she has executed formal schematics and streamlined pricing structures, which created significant positive impacts on operations. • She was recognized as a 2023 Category Manager of the Year for demonstrating innovative and growth-oriented leadership while working within a continuously changing landscape of legislation for her categories. • Thornock — who previously held management positions at The Coca-Cola Co., Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. and Juul Labs — is a member of Maverik’s Loyalty Experience Committee and a member of the retailer’s Limitless employee resource group (ERG).

Senior Category Manager Maverik — Adventure's First Stop

Aubrey Thornock

• A data-driven person by nature and passionate about solving complex problems, Tisch has been a part of the team at National Convenience Distributors (NCD) for two and a half years, moving into his current position in 2023. • Tisch, who received a B.S. in Mathematics, is credited with the implementation and success of a new product portal that has allowed the company’s procurement, sales and operations teams to analyze product information and measure product performance more easily. “This type of project is where Justin excels — being the bridge between technological design and function, and the real-world business demands they seek to meet,” his nominator said. • Tisch emphasizes the need for future leaders to actively listen to others while collaborating, understand the multiple perspectives and ways a problem can be solved, and visualize an idea before a framework is formed.

Senior Business Analyst National Convenience Distributors

Justin Tisch

• Villescas currently focuses on the development of national and strategic accounts at J.M. Smucker, and is responsible for developing and leading business activities across the food, beverage and foodservice categories. When she accepted this role, she moved from the tobacco business to an influential role in food, demonstrating the versatility of her abilities, her nominator said. • Passionate about collaboration and strategic planning with customers, Villescas strives to lead with a coaching mindset in order to motivate, inspire and engage her team and deliver winning results for J.M. Smucker’s customers. • In December 2022, she joined the leadership team for the company’s Raíces ERG. She is also a member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum and NextUp’s Dallas chapter.

Business Development Manager, Convenience, National Accounts The J.M. Smucker Co.

Elly Villescas

• Wetzel joined Wawa in 2017 after working in the grocery channel and nonprofit sectors, and has risen quickly at the convenience store chain in just under five years. After spending a year supporting the retail space planning team as a category space planner, she transitioned to a category management role. • In her current position, Wetzel is responsible for managing and implementing procedures that help Wawa achieve its financial goals in her managed categories, which include nonalcoholic packaged beverages. • Wetzel is the membership and mentoring lead for the Women’s Alliance Wawa Innovation Network, an ERG focused on empowering women through professional development and networking opportunities. She also supports initiatives for the Wawa Associates in Need Fund.

Assortment Manager, Packaged Beverages Wawa Inc.

Katie Wetzel

The largest group of honorees yet was celebrated at an event in Pittsburgh.

• White’s responsibilities encompass vendor management, contract negotiations and spearheading strategic initiatives for Rutter’s foodservice and dispensed beverage program. Under his direction, the program has achieved exceptional expansion while receiving recognition from the industry, including being named a 2023 Best Gas Station for Food by 10Best and the 2021 Foodservice Innovator of the Year and 2022 Cold & Frozen Beverages Innovator of the Year by Convenience Store News. • White joined Rutter’s in 2013 with a degree in culinary art and restaurant management. Since then, he has taken on several roles within the company, including restaurant manager, foodservice quality assurance and dispensed beverage category manager. • The FLIC honoree was integral to developing Rutter’s online ordering platform, and is the chain’s lead chef for developing innovative limited-time offers.

Foodservice Category Manager Rutter’s

Chad White

• Woods oversees the implementation of new food programs, kitchen technology systems, equipment simplifications, and operational efficiencies including kitchen layout and process development. Additionally, he is responsible for leading kitchen acquisitions and coordinating Casey’s store support center and the field team. • Prior to taking on his current position in 2022, Woods served in various leadership roles within the company. This included a stint as regional director of operations, where he led his team to achieve top company performance while improving work culture and reducing turnover. • During the past year, Woods received Casey’s Leader Excellence Certification. His nominator credits him with mentoring team members to their potential

Foodservice Commercialization Manager Casey’s General Stores Inc.

Caleb Woods

• Wright has worked on both the retail and manufacturing sides of the convenience store business, including holding roles in operations and support. In 2014, he joined Love’s Travel Stops, where for the next eight years, he climbed the ladder to become category manager of multiple categories. Taking that experience into his current role at That’s it Nutrition, he turned around the better-for-you company’s convenience business from declining sales to double-digit growth, outpacing category averages in just eight months. • Wright maintains interpersonal relationships with buyers and distributors, building strategic relationships and partnerships within the convenience store community, according to his nominator. • He anchors his leadership in three principles: honesty for accountability; confidence in decision making and adaptability; and active listening for effective communication.

Director of Sales for Convenience That's it Nutrition LLC

Mathew Wright

FUTURE

in convenience

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