Top Women In Store Brands 2023: Carol Bellon
For more than a decade, Store Brands and Women Impacting Storebrand Excellence (WISE) have teamed to honor women across the private label industry who have had and continue to have a major impact in the store brand segment.
From supply chain, to sales, marketing, finance and more, members of the Class of 2023 each play a vital role in moving store brands forward amid new and on-going challenges that include rising prices, capacity issues with manufacturers, and evolving demand from consumers.
The following is the profile of Carol Bellon of Whole Foods Market, the 2023 honoree in the Corporate Services category.
Legal Expertise
When discussing a retailer’s effort to grow an assortment of private label products, it’s often the merchants and product developers who garner much of the credit. But no own brand assortment could succeed without the support of a full team, which includes those who handle all necessary legal issues.
At Whole Foods Market this responsibility falls to Carol Bellon, the grocer’s vice president and associate general counsel who is the 2023 Top Women In Store Brand honoree in Corporate Services category.
“I love working for Whole Foods Market in part because of its mission, its core values, and its quality standards,” Bellon said. “We also have a series of leadership principals that I believe are key to our success. Some of my favorites include our commitment to operational excellence, our focus on servant leadership, and our passion for seeking win-win strategies and solutions.”
Bellon began providing legal support for Whole Foods Market’s Exclusive Brands program in 2002 while working at a law firm. She joined the grocer’s in-house legal team in 2008 to support its private label program. Over the years, Bellon has worked with a host of team members including personnel in sourcing, product development, quality assurance, logistics, compliance, and commercialization. Over those 15 years, Whole Foods’ Exclusive Brands program has grown and now provides shoppers with a choice of approximately 3,500 items.
“I believe that my passion for Whole Foods Market’s mission in addition to my commitment to (the grocer’s) leadership principles have helped me support our Exclusive Brands team’s success in bringing so many high quality private label products to our shelves,” she added.
In her role at Whole Foods, Bellon leads the legal advisory support of its private brands business. That has included contract development and management, regulatory compliance, and general legal guidance. In addition to supporting private brands, she also plays an integral role for regulatory compliance in other areas of the company’s business across the U.S., in Canada, and in the United Kingdom.
