Tucson, Arizona – During the last ROFDA convention running from April 28-May 3, it was announced that Mark Deuschle would be taking on the role of President and CEO of ROFDA. Mark is taking over the reins after Jeff Pederson decided to follow another opportunity working with a former technology company that Jeff had worked with at his prior position with AWG. Mark comes to ROFDA from a company called Navaho, a supplier of a variety of grocery retail solutions, everything from trial size products to sunglasses, from mobile electronics accessories to over-the-counter solutions. Navaho has been a ROFDA partner company for many years and Mark was incredibly familiar with ROFDA because of this relationship.
“I am excited about the opportunity to work with the ROFDA community,” said Mark. “The passion and dedication of the CEOs sets a great tone for all that ROFDA is doing and will do in the future. One of the key elements that I am most enthusiastic about are the Share Groups. Having leaders of key business units meet to share their vision, strategies and challenges is a powerful unlock of innovation and collaboration that will accelerate how ROFDA members will serve their independent retail members more effectively and at a lower cost.”
Mark continued, “I believe ROFDA, the wholesaler members and the independent retailers we serve have a right to win in the marketplace. No one is better at local, community driven connectivity to the shopper than the independent retailer,” said Mark. “ROFDA is committed to leveraging the talent and resources of the wholesalers and retailers to grow our market share, expand our share of attention, resources and influence within the broader supplier and services communities to deliver the most competitive environment for ‘our’ members and their retailers.”
As a reminder, ROFDA stands for Retailer Owned Food Distributors & Associates. The organization exists as a place for the independent wholesalers and their teams to come together to collaborate, share best practices and look for opportunities to aggregate where possible.
In addition to David Rice attending, AFS had representation at the Spring ROFDA Conference from Produce (April Rice), Deli (Todd Jensen), and Marketing/Retail Media (Jason Sokol). These subgroups have been meeting frequently in the months leading up to the conference. Additionally, retailers Mark Ridley and Jon Badger attended to join the relatively new Retailer Share Group.
“I want to thank April, Todd, Jason, Mark and Jon for representing AFS at the Spring ROFDA Conference,” said David. “This is an important opportunity for the ROFDA Board to bring together leaders from strategic areas of the company to collaborate and share best practices. Our team always does a great job representing AFS and demonstrates an incredible level of professionalism and preparation. Mark will do a great job and is coming in at a great time. The board is confident in his ability to take ROFDA to a whole new level.”