Sprouts Farmers Market has appointed Jim Bahrenburg, formerly CIO of Good Food Holdings, as its first-ever chief technology officer, a spokesperson for the grocer confirmed by email.
Bahrenburg started in his new role on Monday, the spokesperson added.
In a press release, the grocer stated Bahrenburg will oversee the strategic direction and management of all aspects of Sprouts’ technology and report to the specialty grocer’s CEO, Jack Sinclair.
Like many grocers, Sprouts is integrating technology throughout its operations. It offers pickup and delivery service chain wide, and earlier this year launched a retail media platform in partnership with Instacart. It’s also bringing tech deeper inside its stores: During a recent webinar, Senior Vice President of Information Technology Hunter Bennett said Sprouts plans to begin testing electronic shelf labels in the second half of this year.
Bahrenburg was Good Food Holdings’ CIO from 2019 to 2023, the announcement noted, and prior to that, held numerous leadership positions at 99 Cents Only Stores, including vice president of business process and IT planning. Bahrenburg brings 35 years of experience to Sprouts, the announcement said.
“I look forward to working with the team to execute on the company’s strategic technology initiatives to enhance and elevate digital platforms for Sprouts’ customers and team members,” Bahrenburg said in a statement.
Sprouts has had numerous c-suite position changes over the past two years. In December 2022, Alisa Gmelich joined as chief marketing officer. In September 2021 the company announced board member Lawrence “Chip” Molloy would assume the role of CFO after the departure of Denise Paulonis from the company. Molloy will retire at the end of this year, Sprouts announced last month.
