FMI Honors Five Grocery Leaders in 2026 Store Manager Awards
FMI – The Food Industry Association has named five grocery leaders as recipients of its 2026 Store Manager Awards, recognizing store managers for operational excellence, leadership, customer service, innovation, and community involvement.
The winners were announced July 23 during a livestreamed awards ceremony. This year’s program honored four category winners and one People’s Pick recipient selected from 12 finalists and more than 110 nominations submitted by food retailers.
The 2026 category winners are:
- Category A: James Hensel, Oregon Dairy, Lititz, Pa.
- Category B: Wei Zheng, 99 Ranch Market, Chandler, Ariz.
- Category C: Mark Ferrari, QFC, part of The Kroger Family of Companies, Bothell, Wash.
- Category D: Kanchan Rijal, SPAR Express Paceville, St. Julians, Malta.
FMI also announced Ferrari as the 2026 People’s Pick winner after he received more than 10,000 votes from more than 16,700 ballots cast in an online public vote…