Sprouts Farmers Market Announces New Chief Fresh Merchandising Officer

Sprouts Farmers Market announced J. Scott Neal will join the company as chief fresh merchandising officer, effective June 15. Neal will report directly to Sprouts CEO Jack Sinclair and will oversee Sprouts’ fresh merchandise offerings.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Scott to the Sprouts team,” said Sinclair. “Scott joins us at the perfect time to leverage his deep experience in fresh merchandising and sourcing as we begin to implement our long-term growth strategy by creating an advantaged fresh supply chain to bring better-for-you options and innovative products to support our customers’ healthy lifestyles.”

Neal brings more than 25 years of retail experience to Sprouts, focused largely on fresh food merchandising. For the past eight years, he has served as SVP and General Merchandise Manager for the fresh food division of Walmart US, where he oversaw quality control and merchandising of produce, meat and seafood. Neal served Walmart over a 24 year career, including as vice president – divisional merchandising manager of the meat division of Walmart U.S. from 2009 to 2011, VP – divisional merchandising manager of the commercial bread and bakery divisions from 2007 to 2009 and VP of International Merchandising from 2000 to 2007. Neal has also served as a member of the board of directors of Feeding America since 2016. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Brigham Young University.

“I am excited to join Sprouts at this pivotal time in its growth trajectory,” said Neal. “It is more important than ever that our customers have access to fresh, healthy food to feed their families, and I look forward to joining Jack and the Sprouts leadership team to advance the company’s long-term vision of building a brand that is good for you, good for your family, and good for the planet.”