Milling & Baking News - August 28, 2018 - 12

News Feature

Sharp leader: A.B.A. chair brings
expansive background to role
Continued from Page 1

broad perspective in the supply chain
facilities that produced consumer pack- space to lead these continuous improvement efforts,'" she said.
aged foods enjoyed by millions.
The assignment offered unique op"I spent my first almost decade with
Frito-Lay, and I remember for many days portunities but certain hurdles as well.
coming home, and I'd have nacho cheese While she had grown accustomed
seasoning all over me," she said. "The to jobs with very direct profit and
dogs in the neighborhood loved me. I loss responsibilities, the continuous
had started on the finance side, and early improvement position required a
in my career when I told friends and col- somewhat different skillset.
"When you 'own' a business like
leagues that I was going to go work in a
plant and then ultimately leading plants I 'own' the manufacturing business
they thought I was crazy. They'd
say, 'But you can have a career
in corporate.' But I didn't want a
career in corporate."
Asked to elaborate on the
attraction to manufacturing,
Ms. Sharp said she began her
academic career in sciences and
finished in finance - areas of
study she called "very disciplined and process oriented."
"That's what attracted me,"
she said. "I'm not an engineer,
but I've learned enough over the
years to be dangerous. When I
made my first plant visit, and this
would be many years ago, I knew
that's what I wanted to do."
At Frito-Lay, Ms. Sharp held
a range of positions, culminating with plant leadership. That
was followed by nearly 10 years
with Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream,
Erin S. Sharp
a business that was acquired
THE KROGER CO.
by Nestle S.A. during her time
there. From Nestle, Ms. Sharp joined the today, it's easier for me to get things
fresh baked foods business of Sara Lee done because I have that influenCorp. She was recruited there by Wil- tial ability based on my P.&L. role,"
liam J. Nictakis, who was president of she said. "But when you are in mathe Sara Lee Baking Group. Earlier, Mr. trix type roles, you need to convince
Nictakis and Ms. Sharp had been col- people that what you're trying to do
is the right thing for their business or
leagues at Frito-Lay.
"It was at Sara Lee where my love of their part of the business, that's a difbaking began," she said. "I love all manu- ferent challenge."
During her final years at Sara Lee,
facturing, but I became more heavily inMs. Sharp headed operations in the
volved in the bakery side."
Initially, Ms. Sharp was assigned to company's central region. While there
lead continuous improvement efforts she was recruited to Kroger Co. in late
across the entire Sara Lee fresh baking 2011 by Calvin J. Kaufman, who at the
business, a role that lasted more than two time was group vice-president and
president of manufacturing.
years.
"He was looking for somebody
"Bill said 'I need somebody who has a
12 / August 28, 2018

Milling & Baking News

who had a fairly diverse manufacturing background because of the nature
of our manufacturing network," Ms.
Sharp said. "It's not all dairies. It's
not all bakeries. It's a little of everything. And for me, someone with my
background it was like being a kid in
the candy store. It was awesome and
still is."
This Kroger "candy store" plays a
crucial and perhaps underappreciated
role in the Kroger Co. business model,
said Jessica C. Adelman, group
vice-president of corporate affairs at the company.
"If you think about
Kroger's parlay into Our
Brands and the role that Our
Brands have played in our
growth strategy, that's something that I think we undersell," she said. "Particularly
Erin's role and how important
having the Our Brands portfolio is to customer loyalty
and also to our profitability. If
I look at the growth margin of
what Erin's team delivers and
has delivered over the past
couple of years because of her
role, a lot of the financial success with the Kroger Co., particularly in the past few years,
has been directly attributed
to the growth of Our Brands
and her vertical integration
on the manufacturing side.
This is a role that contributes heavily
to Kroger's financial well-being.
"We have made it very clear that
Our Brands are a huge platform for
growth, and just yesterday we announced that we will be selling some
on Tmall through Alibaba's global
platform.
"Simple Truth is America's largest
natural and organic brand, and that's
a healthy brand for us. We generated
over $2 billion last year, and we make
good money on it. And it's a young
brand. Erin's team contributes directly
to our financial strategy and our business growth strategy."
Ms. Sharp estimated that Kroger is
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

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