Women Leading Grocery Industry in 2025: Continuously Thriving
Progressive Grocer has announced its 2025 Top Women in Grocery (TWIG) honorees, recognising inspiring leaders who are making a significant impact in the grocery industry.
The honorees, including Hannah Smith and Shannon Finch from Food City, were selected from hundreds of nominations. They are celebrated for their outstanding contributions, leadership, and resilience.
Hannah Smith, Director of Front-End Operations at Food City, oversees daily operations across 160 stores and 127 fuel centers. She is passionate about team leadership, fostering interdepartmental collaboration, hiring, and associate engagement. Smith is an active member of Food City’s Empower Professional Women’s Group and completed the Cornell NGA Executive Leadership Development Program, demonstrating her commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Shannon Finch, Food City’s Director of Procurement, leads strategies for dry grocery, frozen foods, dairy, and food service. Her extraordinary leadership was highlighted during Hurricane Helene in 2024, when she and her team worked tirelessly to secure essential supplies, ensuring the community’s critical needs were met during a crisis.
The honorees' achievements are celebrated through Progressive Grocer’s official features, including print and digital recognition, podcast coverage, and social media promotion. This celebration not only honours their individual contributions but also promotes networking with fellow leaders and vendors, highlighting their role in driving innovation, community engagement, and operational excellence.
Other honorees have forged into areas with fewer female leaders, such as IT, finance, and warehouse logistics. Many have also found time, despite hectic schedules and family obligations, to give back to their communities in various ways.
In addition to the TWIG honorees, Progressive Grocer is releasing its 2025 list of top food and consumables retailers in North America, known as the PG 100. The organisation has also named the Outstanding Independents for 2025, whose honorees are tuned into the needs of their communities in unique ways.
The TWIG honorees will be celebrated during Progressive Grocer’s annual Grocery Impact event in November. The 2025 Shopper, as revealed in the 76th Consumer Expenditures Study, is focusing more on quality as sticker shock subsides. Many of this year’s Best New Products of 2025, as chosen by Progressive Grocer’s editors, marry functionality and flavor.
The TWIG honorees have inspiring stories of resilience, growth, and triumph over adversity. Every nominee for the Top Women in Grocery has overcome challenges to reach or surpass their goals. Many TWIG honorees have returned the favor by helping others to bloom as well.
The Progressive Grocer's Top Women in Grocery (TWIGs) have made extraordinary efforts to further their companies and the wider industry while advancing themselves. They are truly trailblazers in the grocery industry, with Whole Foods Market and Lipton Teas also recognised as Retail and CPG Trailblazers respectively. These honorees serve as role models for future generations of women in business.
- Hannah Smith and Shannon Finch, from Food City, showcased their exceptional leadership skills in the grocery industry, with Smith focusing on team leadership and associate engagement, and Finch leading strategies for various food categories, demonstrating resilience during crises.
- The 2025 Top Women in Grocery (TWIG) honorees’ achievements were celebrated in Progressive Grocer's print, digital, podcast, and social media platforms, promoting networking with fellow leaders and vendors.
- Some TWIG honorees have made their mark in non-traditional roles within the industry, such as IT, finance, and warehouse logistics, while also giving back to their communities through various means.
- In addition to the TWIG honorees, Progressive Grocer is recognizing top food and consumables retailers in North America (PG 100) and the Outstanding Independents for 2025, who are attuned to their communities' unique needs.
- The quality-focused 2025 Shopper is paying more attention to functionality and flavor in products, as sticker shock subsides, with many of the Best New Products of 2025 reflecting this trend.
- The Progressive Grocer's TWIG honorees have inspiring stories of resilience, growth, and triumph over adversity, serving as role models for future generations of women in business, alongside industry trailblazers like Whole Foods Market and Lipton Teas.
