Ahold Delhaize USA Chief Sustainability Officer Marc Stolzman: 4 Things to Know

Retail food and grocery store giant Ahold Delhaize USA has named Marc Stolzman (pictured above) as chief sustainability officer, reporting to JJ Fleeman, CEO of U.S. operations.

While Stolzman focuses on sustainability in the U.S. business, Alex Holt will focus on global sustainability when Holt joins Ahold Delhaize as CSO in June 2024.

Here are four things to know about Stolzman's expertise and experience, and Ahold Delahaize's sustainability strategy.

1. Business Scope and Scale: Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Ahold Delhaize, owns and operates more than 2,000 stores and distribution centers. Noteworthy brands include Food Lion, Giant Food, The GIANT Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop, and the U.S. services companies, Retail Business Services, Peapod Digital Labs and ADUSA Supply Chain.

Parent Ahold Delhaize, based in Zaandam, Netherlands, employs roughly 414,000 people. The company's retail locations and e-commerce sites serve 60 million customers per week. Net sales for the financial year ending on January 1, 2023, were €87 billion (about $93.7 billion), up 15.1% from the previous year.

2. Sustainability Goals: For its own operations, Ahold Delhaize is committed to achieving net-zero by 2040 with an interim target of a 50% reduction by 2030.

3. Marc Stolzman's Experience: Stolzman previously was finance executive leader for Ahold's Peapod Digital Labs since May 2019. Earlier, he help CFO president posts at Kymeta Corp.

4. Executive Perspectives: In a prepared statement about Stolzman's new role, Ahold Delhaize USA CEO JJ Fleeman said: “As one of the largest food retailers on the East Coast, we are committed to being a sustainable retailer as we work to create healthier communities and a healthier planet. As we work through important and complex sustainability efforts in the next several years, including eliminating carbon emissions, bringing to market healthier products, stopping food waste, reducing single-use plastics, and more, Marc’s proven leadership and deep financial background will be instrumental in driving our ambitious goals.”

Added Stolzman: “I’m honored to take on this role in the U.S. I look forward to working with each of the U.S. brands, which are already leaders in sustainability, as well as our suppliers and partners, as we together pursue our passion for empowering healthier people and a healthier planet.”

Ahold Delhaize USA and Sustainability: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

The bottom line: Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO customer needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.