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Gonzalo Gebara is the new president and CEO of Walmart Canada. A veteran of the company, Gebara joined the retail giant in 2000 and has since held roles across finance, strategy and e-commerce, and has worked with the company’s teams in the United States, Argentina and Chile. Gebara succeeds JP Suarez who had been leading Walmart Canada on an interim basis following the departure of president and CEO Horacio Barbeito last summer.

At Sobeys, Geneviève Dugré has been promoted to the role of senior vice-president of operations for Quebec. Dugré, who joined Sobeys in 2013, has held various positions in retail operations, including management of the Rachelle Béry banner and corporate IGA stores.

The Coca-Cola Company has named Phil Cox as its new general manager, Canada. Cox joined Coca-Cola Enterprises in 1996 and most recently served as the company’s regional vice-president, Northeast U.S. Metro has added to its executive team. The grocery company appointed Pietro John Rollo to the position of senior vice-president of national procurement. Rollo, who previously held a senior role at Walmart Canada, will report to Carmen Fortino, executive vicepresident, national supply chain and procurement.

Alexander Benedet has joined Lactalis Canada as its vicepresident, customer strategy and development. Previously, Benedet was vice-president of sales strategy, capabilities and planning at General Mills.

TIME TO NOMINATE!

We’re looking for the most impressive women working in the Canadian grocery industry today for our 2023 Star Women in Grocery Awards

If you know of an outstanding woman who is making a difference in grocery, please take a few minutes to tell us about her at starwomen.ca. The deadline to nominate is March 31 and winners will be revealed in our June/July issue.

Pattison Food Group unveils Wildlight Kitchen + Bar

known Across western Canada for its supermarkets (among them, Save-On-Foods), Pattison Food Group is now making a move into restaurants.

In January, the company offered a sneak peek of Wildlight Kitchen + Bar, its first full-service restaurant, ahead of its February grand opening.

Located at the Lelǝm Village development at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, the concept of Wildlight Kitchen + Bar is a “celebration” of West Coast cuisine.

“The restaurant is inspired by our love of the ocean, the forests and the shoreline of beautiful British Columbia,” said Justin McGregor, general manager of restaurants at Pattison Food Group at the VIP preview event. “It is a celebration of West Coast culture and cuisine where our chef, Warren Chow, has crafted a menu with an exceptionally strong focus on local B.C. flavours and ingredients with variations from around the world.”

At Wildlight, diners can expect unique cocktails and an expansive range of local B.C. wines from the bar and tasty creations from the kitchen that include dry-aged beef burgers, duck confit and, of course, seafood ranging from Hakkaido scallops, miso-glazed sablefish and the restaurant’s seafood charcuterie (house-made salmon pastrami, marinated mussels, salt tuna tataki), all served up in a beautiful, contemporary space.

So how did Wildlight come to be?

“More than two years ago Darrell [Jones, president of Pattison Food Group] challenged us to open a restaurant and when he did, we all thought he was crazy,” said Brenda Kirk, senior vice-president of merchandising and procurement at Pattison Food Group. “We had no idea how to operate or open a restaurant, but I knew we did know a lot about food and a lot about customer experience.”

Indeed, with nearly a dozen retail banners under its umbrella, the group has figured out how to win with customers; Save-OnFoods, for instance, has earned the distinction of being one of B.C.’s “Most Loved Brands” several times over.

The way Jones sees it, moving into the restaurant business is a “natural fit” for the growing company. “Just like the Pattison Food Group’s business, our mission here is very simple, for Wildlight to deliver, always, customer-first service.”

But it’s not only a dining experience that’s being served up at the Lelǝm Village location; adjacent to the restaurant is a new Urban Fare, Pattison Food Group’s upmarket grocery banner, which also opened its doors for business in February.