April 25, 2024
Tony Bashir Sarsam, President & CEO, SpartanNash
How To Build A $10 Billion Company On A Culture Of Service
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The food industry has been struggling to adapt to the world around them. With pickup and delivery services impacting grocery store sales, and the rise of services like DoorDash and Uber Eats rebooting consumer habits, competition and change are the new norm.
A key player quietly rebooting the grocery and supply chain sectors is Spartan Nash. Founded in 1885 as a tiny candy and tobacco store in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Spartan Nash is a $9.7 Billion Fortune 400 company with 17,000 Associates that delivers to 2,300 independent grocers and hundreds of their own stores. They also “deliver a little taste of home” to all who serve the U.S. military no matter where they are stationed around the globe.
We invited Spartan Nash CEO Tony Sarsam to this episode of The Reboot Chronicles for a behind the scenes tour of his reboot story. A thoughtful agile leader and industry veteran from Frito-Lay, Borden, and Nestle, Tony has been transforming the company—and keeping his teams on a mission to “Make Yesterday Jealous For How Great Today Is.”
A Passion For Caring And Service
One of the services that Spartan Nash prides itself on is delivering a taste of home to those who serve in the military no matter where they are. They do this through a unique team based in Norfolk, Virginia. Even though the logistics behind it are fairly complicated, Tony says it is an important aspect to do for the company, and for those in the military. Joining the military can be “very unsettling” and now the troops “get a chance to go into the commissary and see the same types of things you bought when you were back at home.”
Robots, Drones, And AI Innovation
Many of the tech-based innovations we hear about here on the show revolve around AI and LLM (Large Language Models). One of the innovations that Spartan Nash has begun to implement is drones in their warehouses and robots in their stores. The robot that goes in their stores is named Tally, and he runs up and down the aisles checking all of the shelves on a loop. Tally checks to see if the stickers are correct or if any shelves need to be restocked, allowing the employees more time to be customer-facing. They have similar technology in their warehouses, but they instead fly around collecting similar data. Tally’s flying drone cousin does not have a name yet—any suggestions?
What’s In Store For The Next 5 Years?
In the next ten years, Tony is “wildly optimistic about our future and our ability to lead in this industry.” With the main goal being to grow a strong enough relationship with their customers so that they eventually cannot live without Spartan Nash. And as Tony puts it “That’s not just an aspiration, it’s a real challenge. It’s a challenge for us and it’s a call to action for us.” Indeed. Regardless of your position or industry, there is a lot to learn from this episode of The Reboot Chronicles.
