US Foods Names Irfan Badibanga as CHEF'STORE President; Jay Kvasnicka Discusses
ROSEMONT, IL - Since rebranding all of its previously acquired Smart Foodservice Warehouse stores to US Foods CHEF’STORE locations back in February of 2021, US Foods has continued to eye ambitious growth for the brand. In its latest announcement, the company has selected Irfan Badibanga as its new CHEF’STORE™ President. In this role, Badibanga will oversee all CHEF’STORE locations, employing growth plans to advance its retail locations as a component of US Foods’ ambitious omnichannel strategy.
“CHEF'STORE is poised for tremendous growth, and I am excited to help advance an omnichannel experience that enables purchasing synergies for our US Foods broadline customers,” said Badibanga. “Our CHEF’STORE locations have an unparalleled culture that enables associates to cultivate lasting partnerships with our customers, and a customer value proposition that is centered around an incomparable customer experience that emphasizes clean, easy-to-navigate stores and a consistently stocked assortment of products aligned with the communities we operate in.”
Most recently, Badibanga held the title of Senior Vice President of Operations for Giant Food. At Giant, he led operations for the company’s chain of supermarkets and pharmacies, managing strategic store planning and execution, customer experience, e-commerce operations, asset protection, and supply chain logistics, a press release noted. Before joining Giant Food, Badibanga served as Senior Vice President of Operations at Family Dollar Stores, where he was responsible for the oversight of 8,000 U.S. stores in 44 states.
Badibanga’s career also includes executive roles at Walmart, where he served as Vice President of Operations and oversaw 33,000 associates across 105 Walmart Supercenters.
As President, he will report to Jay Kvasnicka, Executive Vice President of Field Operations.
“I am pleased to welcome Irfan to CHEF’STORE,” said Kvasnicka. “His extensive retail leadership experience and proven track record of helping advance retail excellence will be critical as we continue to invest in the growth and expansion of our CHEF’STORE business.”
Congratulations to Irfan Badibanga on this new role!
