Industry veteran Tony Hoggett lands at Marc Lore’s Wonder following SVP of Grocery role at Amazon

Tony Hoggett, Amazon’s former SVP of Grocery, is joining Marc Lore's food delivery startup as its Chief Operating Officer, according to a report by Fortune.

A former Tesco executive, Hoggett started at Amazon in January 2022, and served on the company’s senior leadership team. His last day there will be 1st November.

In a LinkedIn post, Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive, said: “I’m disappointed that Kroger or Ahold Delhaize didn’t hire Tony to be their CEO. I was also hoping that Starbucks would hire him, and have him design and lead a programme similar to what he will be doing at Wonder.”

Wonder operates 27 fast casual restaurants in the northeast that offer around two dozen different cuisines or menus to diners out of a single location.

Although it owns meal kit company Blue Apron, Lore told Fortune that Hoggett’s hiring does not signal a desire to further expand into the grocery space.

Instead, Hoggett will be responsible for opening and running tech enabled storefronts and their hourly staff. He will also head up the fresh food supply chain Wonder depends on. Its meals are partially cooked at a central kitchen, before final touches are completed out of the company’s storefronts.

Lore claims he will IPO within three to five years.

Ladd commented: “Hoggett’s departure from Amazon proves that he doesn’t believe it will become a leader in groceries. In addition, it reinforces information I’ve received from multiple sources within Amazon (including from sources on Hoggett’s team) that he hasn’t enjoyed being there for many reasons.”

“Wonder is a startup with a business model that is going to be difficult to scale. Hiring Tony may improve the operations and accelerate the number of openings. However, it remains to be seen how popular Wonder can become.”

“In some ways, Lore hiring Hoggett is reminiscent of Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen hiring former Amazon executive, Dave Clark, to scale the company. It will be interesting to watch how the relationship between Hoggett and Lore develops. I want the relationship to flourish.”

Amazon and Wonder did not respond to our request for comment.

2024 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

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