This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment examines Ahold Delhaize's decision to appoint former Amazon Fresh executive Claire Peters as CEO of Ahold Delhaize USA and what the hire could mean for one of the largest grocery retailers in the U.S.

Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn discuss why Ahold Delhaize looked beyond traditional grocery talent, what Claire Peters' experience at Amazon, Woolworths, and Tesco brings to the role, and whether an unconventional leadership hire is exactly what the company needs.

They also explore the growing trend of retailers recruiting executives from outside their core industry, why fresh perspectives can spark transformation, and whether taking a chance on nontraditional talent is worth the risk.

⏩ Tune in for the full episode here: https://youtu.be/k2JviUlR0-Q

According to Grocery dive, Ajo Delez has nominated Claire Peters, former VP of Worldwide Fresh at Amazon, to serve as the new CEO of Ajo Delez USA, effective September 8, pending shareholder approval.

Peters brings 30 years of international retail experience, having also held executive roles at Woolworths Group in Australia and and Tesco in the UK and Thailand, including serving as Tesco's chief operating officer in Thailand.

Jen, as our resident talent expert and if you are Ajo Delez, is this the succession move you would have made?

We're starting out really hot here today.

I actually, I like this move.

There's a lot of information.

I do.

There's a lot of information.

If we were handling the wreck, if we were working to fill this role, that I would need to understand.

But with the information I have, I, I really like this move.

I think it certainly signals that they're ready to do something different.

I don't think it's expected.

I think it's new and different on purpose.

I mean, this is a legacy industry, right, And a legacy organization.

So they obviously could have promoted from within, but hiring Claire to me says, we're ready for change, we want different moving forward.

I'll hold.

Delays is a super complex business, right?

It's not just one organization operating a handful of different formats.

We're talking about a distinct, I should say a parent company that operates distinct companies, brands, business units.

Each one of them have their own leadership team, their own culture, customer base and strategies.

100%.

And I think it takes a pretty dynamic individual to do all of that, to be CEO of all of that, really.

Well, obviously I wasn't involved in the interviews for Claire, so I don't know that for certain.

But I do like some of what I see in her background.

So looks like she has some consulting background on top of that grocery experience.

And obviously with Woolworths and Amazon, not even necessarily traditional, especially not traditional US Grocery.

But again, I see how some people might have questions about this, but I'm a fan of it if it's for the right reason of yes, and we're ready to be different.

We're not ready.

We don't want to stick to sort of traditional grocery and get stuck in what has been done.

We're ready for someone to come in with fresh eyes, fresh perspective, and chances are Ahold has the, the talent to support her in terms of like what has been done in the context in the grocery industry that's there.

To me, this signals like, we're ready to be different.

And I. I think I support that move on their end.

Got it.

I guess one plus side is she knows Amazon's grocery strategy probably pretty well, you know, which is probably a good.

A good thing to bring to the table, you know, to whatever degree she about it, you know, which is something you have to keep in mind.

But.

So that's interesting, Jen.

So, like, to me, the only thing I'd say is, like, that bar feels really low to me in terms of, like, we just want somebody that can shake it up.

Like, couldn't you find somebody with US Grocery experience that could shake it up?

Sure.

There were other candidates considered that had more traditional US Grocery experience.

I. I'm just saying that with the information I have and what I see, like, making this move says whatever she brought to the table was different enough that they were willing to adjust their bar.

I'm sure their original bar said they had to be U.S. grocery, and I'm not certain of that.

Right.

But I think whatever she brought to the table was enough that they said, okay, great.

Like, this isn't the exact resume we would have looked for originally, but after meeting her, she's exactly who we need for the job.

Yeah.

And I guess she does have some US Grocery experience, having run Amazon Fresh, although we don't know how that went, but I guess it does.

It does count.

What about the fact too, Jen?

I mean, the one misgiving I have in terms of like, and I don't know Claire at all, but I just think this isn't the.

I think for me personally, this isn't the resume I would want, and particularly when I put it in context, because the actual parent ahold Delez, they have a new CEO coming in too, who's also an outsider, which means now you have an outsider running the global brand, and now you have an outsider running the US Operation, too.

And it just seems like a lot of change at one time.

So I just.

For that reason alone, I. I don't love it.

And I don't love the fact because I do think the US Grocery market is very, very specific in terms of how it works and how it operates, that I think not having someone that has some track record of success in that market, you're kind of taking a flyer on.

On him or her, no matter who it is.

Yeah, it does.

It does certainly seem like they're willing to bet on her based on whatever they learned about her in the interview process, because it is one of those, again, while I actually am energized by it, because I'm like, yeah, let's do something different.

Yeah, it certainly isn't what I would have expected.

Right.

I wouldn't have expected that.

So this feels like a resume that when we're working on a search, we might have to talk the client into the interview.

Right.

We might have to say, look, I know based on this resume, it's not exactly what you wanted to see, but I'm telling you, after speaking to this individual, you want to hear what she has to say.

And sometimes those are the best candidates, the people that would have been sort of automatically turned down if we really were strict on resume alone.

So I hear what you're saying, and I do.

I would certainly have questions.

I just think, to me, what it's signaling, both of those hires being outsiders, is that the board, you know, I think they're just ready for change, and they're bringing in that change by this change in leadership.

And it's.

It's always going to be a risk.

They're betting on these decisions, but perhaps a necessary one.