Wakefern Appoints Two New VPs

Wakefern Food Corp., the nation’s largest retailer-owned cooperative, with member companies that own and operate supermarkets under the ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Dearborn Market and Gourmet Garage banners, announced the promotion of Laura Kind to Vice President of Brand Strategy and welcomed Ranjana Choudhry as Vice President of Advertising and Social Media.

Laura Kind has quickly built a strong track record since joining Wakefern in December 2018 as Director of Own Brands Marketing and Packaging. She was pivotal in driving the successful design, positioning and launch of Wakefern’s newest own brand offerings, Bowl & Basket and Paperbird.

In her new role, Kind will oversee strategic brand management for the ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Dearborn Market and Gourmet Garage banners and work to uniquely differentiate these banners in the marketplace, shape the brand identities and ensure connectivity in all customer facing initiatives.

Prior to joining Wakefern, Laura was Director of Brand at Jet.com, a Walmart e-commerce company, where she built the company’s private label brand, winning several awards for its packaging and design. She has also held marketing leadership roles at Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue. Laura has a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University.

Ranjana Choudhry joined Wakefern in March and brings more than 25 years of experience as a global marketing and communications leader to her new role at Wakefern. She will lead the Advertising and Social Media divisions to develop marketing and digital content strategies that harness the brands’ iconic promotions and also introduce fresh, new campaigns across advertising and digital channels.

Choudhry began her career with Grey Advertising, a global marketing communications agency. She relocated to New York while working for WPP, a multinational advertising agency where she led more than 400 team members in 220 countries across Asia, India, Africa, Eurasia, Europe, Latin America and North America for Colgate-Palmolive’s brands. Choudhry has a Master degree in Philosophy of Advertising from Delhi School of Economics and a Master of Commerce in Marketing from Shri Ram College of Commerce in India. She completed her Bachelor of Commerce from Jesus & Mary College, also in India.