Meg Ham

Meg Ham was named the president of Food Lion on Nov. 1 of 2014.

Before taking the helm of the Salisbury-based grocery store chain, Ham served as president of Bottom Dollar Food, another Salisbury-based discount grocer. She has worked for the Delhaize America family of supermarkets since 1988. Ham has a background in retail operations and merchandising, and has worked in food retail for more than 26 years with a strong focus on customer service and the associate experience.

Ham’s focus for Food Lion is to make shopping easier for customers and to ensure they can get fresh, affordable products in a strategy called Easy, Fresh and Affordable … You Can Count on Food Lion Everyday. The company has cut prices on the items customers buy the most and expanded the product assortment in local stores.

Under Ham’s direction, Food Lion has proven that it is not just a company in the community, but a company that cares for the community. The Food Lion Feeds program focuses on helping to eradicate hunger in local communities. By the end of 2020, the company has a goal to donate 500 million meals. This past holiday season as part of its “Holidays without Hunger” campaign, Food Lion donated $1,000 to 12 different food bank partners and donated 77,000 meals to students at four Rowan-Salisbury schools.

Ham wants to continue to offer products that adhere to the changing preferences of today’s customers, such as more organic and natural products, and enhance the freshness of produce to make them last longer at home. She is also working to maintain affordability in the midst of an increasing field of low-price competitors.

Ham is originally from central New York. She earned her bachelor of science degree in business management and marketing from Cornell University. She is married with two sons.

 

Job title: President of Food Lion

Age: 49

Address: Concord, N.C.

If you won $1 million in the lottery, what would you do? I would donate the money to charities focused on ending hunger in our local communities.

Favorite hobby: Watching my two sons play lacrosse and taking in all kinds of sports with my family.

Who should play you in a movie? Kate Winslet

What would you choose for your last meal? Chicken and avocado

Who will you watch in 2016? For me, it’s about continuing to pay very close attention to the extremely competitive grocery industry and listening to our store managers and customers on how we can improve to serve them better every day!

Biggest challenge in 2016: We love challenges and in 2016, we’ll continue to focus on growing our existing customer base by having them meet more of their shopping needs at Food Lion while attracting new customers.

Biggest hope for 2016: My biggest hope is we continue to earn the business of the Salisbury community every day, and they know we appreciate their support and loyalty as Food Lion customers all while we work together to continue to shorten the lines at local feeding agencies.

Reaction to making the list: I’m extremely honored and humbled for this recognition.