Ahold Delhaize acquires King Kullen, appoints new Chief Digital Officer

On Jan. 4, 2019, Ahold Delhaize announced it had acquired King Kullen Grocery Co. through Stop & Shop, its largest brand in the US. This move is the latest in the brand’s continued expansion on Long Island, N.Y. The agreement includes King Kullen’s 32 supermarkets, five Wild by Nature stores and the use of its corporate offices located in Bethpage, N.Y. The acquisition is currently expected to close during the first quarter of 2019.

“This transaction underscores our commitment to further strengthen the positions of our great local brands in the U.S., both through organic growth and fill-in acquisitions,” said Ahold Delhaize CEO Frans Muller.

More recently, Ahold Delhaize announced the appointment of Farhan Siddiqi as Chief Digital Officer and member of its Executive Committee, effective Jan. 28, 2019. Siddiqi will drive digital transformation and innovation across Ahold Delhaize’s great local brands, focusing on loyalty, data analytics and personalization.

Siddiqi previously worked with McDonald’s, where he served as Chief Digital Officer and led the restaurant chain’s digital transformation, including the launch of mobile commerce in 20,000 restaurants, a new mobile app and the upgrade of self-service ordering kiosks. He was also responsible for data analytics and extending Customer Relationship Management capabilities.

Frans Muller, President and CEO of Ahold Delhaize, said: “With his knowledge of the digital customer experience in a wide variety of industries, Farhan will help further accelerate Ahold Delhaize’s digital transformation, a key element in our Leading Together strategy. He will drive best practice sharing in digital and eCommerce across our great local brands while leveraging our global scale, supporting us in doubling net consumer online sales to around 7 billion euros by 2021.”