Hari Avula served as chief financial and strategic officer of Clif Bar & Company from May 2021 through February 2023, where he led the financial management and enterprise strategy functions for the nutritious and organic food company prior to its acquisition by Mondelēz International, Inc. Hari joined Clif Bar from Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., (NASDAQ: WBA) where he served as chief financial officer of global business transformation and digital/IT from 2020 to 2021 and chief financial officer of retail pharmacy USA from 2017 to 2020. Prior to joining Walgreens, Hari spent over 22 years at PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) in a variety of financial and strategic roles, culminating as chief financial officer for Frito Lay North America from 2015 to 2017.
Hari earned a Master of Business Administration from Yale School of Management and a Bachelor of Commerce degree with Honors from Delhi University.
Sprouts Board Involvement:
- Audit Committee, member
- Risk Committee, member
Nick Konat, our president and chief operating officer, joined Sprouts in March 2022 and brings over 20 years of experience in retail, merchandising, consumer insights, and private brands to Sprouts. Nick joined Petco in 2015 and prior to his appointment as chief merchandising officer in 2018, served as vice president of private brands and merchandising and senior vice president – general manager. Prior to joining Petco, Nick served as director of food operations and merchandise planning at Target Corporation where he held a range of merchandising, planning and leadership roles across the food and fashion categories. He also spent six years with Accenture plc, a multinational professional services company.
Nick holds an honors bachelor’s degree in political science and government from St. John’s University.
Lawrence “Chip” Molloy has served as our chief financial officer since September 2021, prior to which he served as a member of our board of directors since 2013, and as our interim chief financial officer from June 2019 to February 2020.
Chip has a wealth of retail industry experience including serving as interim chief executive officer for Torrid and chief financial officer for both Under Armour and PetSmart. During his tenure at PetSmart, he was named Institutional Investor’s CFO of the Year for Specialty Retail in 2011. Chip also served as a senior advisor for private equity firm Roark Capital Group and as a board director for Torrid, Pet Supermarket, Wingstop and Party City. Prior to his business career, Chip served as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot for 10 years, later retiring from the Naval Reserve with the rank of Commander.
Chip earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the United States Naval Academy and a master of business administration degree from the University of Virginia.
Timmi Zalatoris, our Chief Human Resources Officer, joined Sprouts in March 2017 and brings more than 17 years of HR leadership experience to our brand. She demonstrates a deep passion for our people and ensures we have the right talent across our company to drive success and build meaningful careers at Sprouts. She previously served as Head of Talent Management at Payless, and Senior Director of Human Resources at Ferrell Companies. Prior to that, she held various retail management roles.
Timmi earned a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Houston.
Hunter Bennett, our senior vice president of information technology, joined Sprouts in 2014. Hunter brings nearly 25 years of experience to his senior position in IT operations, infrastructure, and telecommunications. Before being promoted to his current role, Hunter served as Sprouts’ vice president of information technology for six years.
Before joining Sprouts, Hunter served in various leadership roles at OneNeck IT Services, and was the chief technology officer of Ensynch, Inc. from 2001 to 2008. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer and information systems studies from Arizona State University.
Joe Hurley, Chief Supply Chain Officer, joined Sprouts in April 2019. Joe brings more than 25 years of experience to Sprouts in the grocery and retail supply chain space. Before joining Sprouts, Joe served as senior vice president, supply chain for the Giant Eagle chain in Pittsburgh from 2001 to 2019 where he held various leadership roles. Prior to Giant Eagle, Joe worked in supply chain leadership roles at SuperValu from 1992 to 2001.
Joe holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Virginia Military Institute, and a master of science degree in business administration from the California University of Pennsylvania.
Kim Coffin, our Senior Vice President and Chief Forager, joined Sprouts in 2012 and brings over 30 years of experience in the grocery space, strengthening product categories and building strong partnerships with our vendors. Prior to her current role, Kim served as vice president of grocery at Sprouts for eight years. Before joining Sprouts, Kim held various leadership roles at Sunflower Farmers Market. From 1987 to 2010, Kim worked in grocery sales for Albertsons.
Kim earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Portland State University.
Scott Neal, our Chief Merchandising Officer, brings more than 25 years of retail experience to Sprouts since joining the company in June 2020. He was previously senior vice president and general merchandise manager for the fresh food division of Walmart U.S., where he oversaw quality control and merchandising of produce, meat and seafood. Neal served Walmart over a 24-year career, including as vice president – divisional merchandising manager of meat from 2009 to 2011, vice president – divisional merchandising manager of commercial bread and bakery from 2007 to 2009, and vice president of international merchandising from 2000 to 2007.
Neal earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Brigham Young University and also served as a member of the board of directors of Feeding America from 2016 to 2020.
Alisa Gmelich, our senior vice president and chief marketing officer, joined Sprouts in December 2022 and brings more than 25 years of experience in brand development, marketing strategy, and customer loyalty to Sprouts. Alisa most recently served as chief brand officer at Auntie Anne’s, and previously spent over 15 years in the restaurant industry where she held various positions, including vice president of marketing at IHOP, where she spearheaded its customer growth strategy, national programs and menu innovation. Prior to IHOP, Alisa led a marketing team for Burger King Corporation as director of U.S. sales, field marketing, driving local and national initiatives.
Alisa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and Art History from University of California, Riverside.
Doug Rauch founded in June 2012, and has since served as president of Daily Table, an innovative retail concept designed to bring affordable nutrition to the food insecure in Boston’s inner city. Through this role, he remains passionate about expanding access to healthy and sustainable food. In January 2010, Doug was a founding board member, and in July 2011 became chief executive officer, of Conscious Capitalism Inc., an organization dedicated to the practice of business as a force for good, where he continues to serve as a board member. Prior to that, he served Trader Joe’s Company for over 30 years, including as a division and later company president, from 1995 until his retirement from the company in 2008.
He has served on the board of directors of PAR Technology Corporation (NYSE: PAR), a leading provider of point-of-sale technology solutions to restaurants and retail outlets, since November 2017, and Imperfect Foods, a grocery delivery service with a mission to eliminate food waste, since March 2019. Doug also served a ten-year term as a trustee at the Olin College of Engineering from October 2009 to October 2019.
Sprouts Board Involvement:
- Audit Committee, chairperson