Dive Brief:
- Tony Hoggett, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide grocery stores, posted on LinkedIn Friday that he is leaving the company.
- Hoggett, a Tesco veteran, is departing after nearly three years leading up Amazon’s grocery business.
- “I’m optimistic about the work Amazon is doing to improve the grocery shopping experience for customers, and have no doubt the teams will keep the momentum going in my absence,” Hoggett said in the post.
Dive Insight:
In his post, Hoggett did not give a reason for his departure from Amazon or say where he’s heading next. An Amazon spokesperson said his last day will be Nov. 1.
“After nearly three years at Amazon, it’s time for the next step in my career,” Hoggett wrote.
His departure comes at a time of significant development for Amazon’s grocery ecosystem. The Amazon Fresh grocery chain has been opening stores at a rapid clip while also rolling out a second-generation store design. Online, Amazon is trying to remove the barriers separating its various brands, including Amazon.com, Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh, by allowing shoppers to bundle items into one cart.
These changes took shape during Hoggett’s tenure with the company, and it’s unclear at this point who will take over the top grocery post at the company or if Amazon plans to replace him at all. An Amazon spokesperson issued a statement but did not provide details on the company’s next steps.
“After nearly three years of leading our grocery business, helping guide the organization to new levels of impact, and building a strong team that will continue to make grocery shopping simpler, faster, and more affordable, Tony Hoggett has decided to leave Amazon. We thank Tony for his many accomplishments at Amazon and especially for what he’s delivered for customers,” the statement read.
Before coming to Amazon, Hoggett spent the majority of his career with British grocer Tesco. He began working at the company as a teenager and rose through various executive positions in the U.K. and abroad. He spent nearly two years as the CEO of Tesco Asia and left the company as group chief strategy and innovation officer in July 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Hoggett joined Amazon to help improve the company’s grocery store business. Although it has operated the Amazon Fresh brand online for more than a decade and acquired Whole Foods Market in 2017, running its own grocery store chain has proven challenging for the e-commerce giant. Less than a year after opening its first Amazon Fresh store, Amazon paused the chain’s store openings to adjust its approach.
Amazon Fresh restarted store openings earlier this year and recently eclipsed the 50-store mark.
Peyton Bigora contributed reporting
