SpartanNash places company exec in charge of information security

Grocery retailer/distributor SpartanNash is looking internally for its new chief information security officer.

The company is promoting Jean-Paul “J.P.” Calabio to the position of VP, chief information security officer. In this new role Calabio is now in charge of information security strategy, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and continual enhancement of the company’s security posture.

In his time at SpartanNash, Calabio has formalized the corporate security incident response process, created a governance risk and compliance function to focus on high-risk priorities, expanded vendor risk management capabilities ensuring vendors meet high security requirements, and built an information security governance model to provide additional oversight.

In his new role, Calabio will also oversee information security governance risk and compliance, IT security operations and incident response, among other responsibilities. He previously led SpartanNash’s Information Security team in his role as senior director, CISO.

Before joining SpartanNash, Calabio was VP and CISO at Alorica, and chief information security officer at SC Johnson and Maple Leaf Foods Inc., where he had similar responsibilities. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business from Mount Mercy University and brought over 20 years of Information Security experience when he was hired by the company last year. Calabio lives with his wife and family in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“We interact with a lot of data as a food solutions company — from our products and customers to our Associates’ work and contact information,” said Arif Dar, senior VP and CIO. “Keeping all of this data safe is vital to the success of our winning recipe, and I am confident that in his new role, JP will continue to do just that.”

Calabio is SpartanNash’s second high-level executive appointment of June 2022. Earlier in the month, the company named Greg Crane in the role of VP, finance – food distribution. Crane, a registered CPA, brings more than 15 years of financial and operational experience with a background in financial management, strategic and financial planning, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and performance optimization. Most recently, he served as the CFO for GHSP Inc., a global supplier of mechanical and electromechanical systems to the automotive, transportation, and appliance industries. Before that, he spent nearly six years at consumer footwear company Wolverine World Wide in a variety of financial and leadership positions.

The core businesses of SpartanNash include distributing grocery products to independent and chain retailers, its corporate-owned retail stores, and U.S. military commissaries and exchanges. The company also operates a fresh produce distribution network and the Our Family brand. SpartanNash serves customer locations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Djibouti. In addition, the company owns 148 supermarkets—primarily under the banners of Family Fare, Martin's Super Markets, D&W Fresh Market, VG's Grocery, and Dan's Supermarket, and shares its operational insights.