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Kroger’s Morganthall receives FMI’s Rabb Award

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FMI also honors Kehe and Douglas at Foundation Gala

Fred Morganthall

Fred Morganthall

MIAMI — The Food Marketing Institute on Saturday night presented its Sidney R. Rabb Award to Fred Morganthall, executive vice president of retail operations at Kroger Co.

FMI also honored Jerry Kehe, chairman of the board at KeHE Distributors, with its Herbert Hoover Humanitarian Service Award. And J. Alexander “Sandy” Douglas, executive vice president of Coca-Cola Co. and president of Coca-Cola North America, received FMI’s William H. Albers Award for Industry Relations.

In presenting him with the Rabb award, FMI president and CEO Leslie Sarasin noted that Morganthall’s 37-year career in the grocery industry is as inspirational as that of the award’s namesake of this award. Just as Sidney Rabb set the standard for reaching a higher purpose in the U.S. grocery industry by serving society, Morganthall has been characterized as elevating the successes of the food retail industry beyond his own professional objectives.

“Fred has proven to be one of my most trusted counselors and his altruistic style of leadership is well documented in his many accomplishments, which include helping chart FMI’s strategic path and focus our organizational framework,” Sarasin said. “Fred embodies the spirit of collaboration and visionary inspiration needed in our industry, as we work to achieve a greater goal of feeding families and enriching lives.”

Morganthall served as FMI chairman from 2011 to 2014, which was a period of transition for FMI and the industry. Sarasin noted that Morganthall’s dedication to the food retail industry resulted in him seeing FMI through the strategic planning process and agreeing to a third year of his chairmanship.

“He is a persuasive part of our association’s legacy and the food retail industry’s history, as evidenced  in his leadership at Harris Teeter and now in his elevated role at Kroger,” Sarasin said.

Jerry Kehe

Jerry Kehe

In honoring Kehe with it’s Herbert Hoover Humanitarian Service Award, FMI was recognizing Kehe for his career-long focus serving the greater good.

“Jerry Kehe believes in the inherent right of people to access safe, nutritious and affordable food, and the spirit of compassion with which he puts those values into action, means he embodies the very essence of the Hoover award,” Sarasin said. “Not only is he a humble advocate for local communities, he finds creative ways to weave his commitment to neighborly care into the fabric of his business practice, serving as a wholesaler to independent operators as well as global food retailers.”

Kehe grew the company from 40 employees in the late 1960s to more than 4,700 in present day, but the secret to his success is arguably that he instituted the practice of giving back 10% of all pretax company profits to those less fortunate. Thirty-one years later, KeHE became employee-owned, which the company attributes to Jerry Kehe’s focus on shaping the company’s ethos.

Sandy Douglas

Sandy Douglas

The Albers Award for Industry Relations celebrates the attributes of a respected business partner, according to FMI, which notes that Douglas has served as co-chair of the FMI and Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) Trading Partner Alliance since 2013 where he emphasizes the critical nature of collaboration between FMI and GMA for the continued success of the food supply chain.

“Sandy is a stalwart champion and courageous leader of industry causes; he willingly takes on the thorniest issues within our supply chain and continues working on them with candor and transparency until he and those on the journey with him find the rose at the end of the stem,” Sarasin said.


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