Chris Foltz is our Sr. Retail Advisor Principle. Chris spent ten years consulting grocery retailers before joining Heinen’s - a 23-store chain in Cleveland and Chicago - as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Innovation Office for more than 20 years. As our Sr. Retain Advisor Principle, Chris leads efforts to formulate and launch functional food and beverage innovation, helping to commercial science-backed ingredients to deliver efficacious health benefits and meet the growing consumer need to integrate nutritious, convenient, and affordable solutions into their daily regimen.  

Chris was Managing Partner in The Performance Engineering Group, an Orlando based consultancy, specializing in product and service strategies and worked with dozens of retailers, including Winn-Dixie (Florida, Heinen’s (Cleveland and Chicago), D&W Foods (Michigan), Fresh Encounters (Ohio), Ball’s Food stores (Kansas City), and Fedco (South Florida). He served as Chief Operating Officer for Fedco, a 42 store Pharmacy Chain and Director of Operations for Heinens, a 23 store Grocery Chain.

He currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer for Heinens. He also advises on multiple Boards and is a frequent speaker at conferences, including Grocery Shop, Menus of Change, and The Service Management Group Forum.

Chris received a BS in Business and Computer Science from The University of Kansas and an MBA from Oklahoma State University.