Kroger’s People Chief Is Changing. Here’s Who’s Next.
Kroger has named Emilee De Martino as its new chief people officer, succeeding Tim Massa ahead of his planned retirement.
Leadership transitions at the country’s largest traditional grocer rarely go unnoticed by suppliers and operators alike. Kroger has named Emilee De Martino its next Kroger chief people officer, signaling a planned, orderly handoff from longtime executive Tim Massa.
TLDR
- Emilee De Martino will become Kroger’s next chief people officer.
- Tim Massa is retiring; De Martino steps into a critical workforce role.
- The transition affects HR strategy across Kroger’s massive store network.
- Succession timing suggests internal planning, not an abrupt departure.
Kroger Chief People Officer Transition Signals Workforce Strategy Continuity
Kroger confirmed the appointment of Emilee De Martino to the role of chief people officer, according to Grocery Dive. She succeeds Tim Massa, who is retiring from the position. The structured handoff suggests Kroger prioritized continuity over urgency in its succession planning.
Massa held the people officer role during a turbulent period for grocery labor. His tenure spanned pandemic-era workforce pressures, unionization activity, and the now-abandoned Albertsons merger. Significant.
What the Appointment Means for Grocery Operators
The chief people officer role at Kroger carries outsized influence. Kroger employs roughly 420,000 associates across its banner network. Decisions made at this level ripple through store-level staffing, benefits design, and labor relations for hundreds of thousands of workers.
De Martino’s appointment comes as grocery retailers face persistent pressure on labor costs and workforce retention. Operators and suppliers watching Kroger’s next moves on workforce investment will want to track how De Martino shapes the company’s people strategy. For context on how workforce trends are reshaping food retail broadly, see thefutureoffood.org.
The timing of the announcement, ahead of Massa’s retirement rather than after, reflects deliberate internal planning. That kind of sequencing matters in an industry where workforce stability is increasingly a competitive differentiator.
Source: Grocery Dive. https://www.grocerydive.com/news/kroger-names-executive-vice-president-chief-people-officer-emilee-de-martino/824447/