Mary Ellen Adcock: The Queen of Kroger
Having worked for Kroger in varying executive roles for more than a quarter-century, Mary Ellen Adcock, when she was promoted in spring 2025, brought deep gatekeeping experience to the position of chief merchant and marketing officer, where she handles sales and category planning for fresh foods, center store, and general merchandising. In other words, she’s pretty much the last word on buying and placement decisions at one of the largest supermarkets in the country. Plus, as former VP of natural foods merchandising, she’s been embedded in the main avenue for entrepreneurial brands to gain broad scale in grocery.