Dive Brief:
- United Dairy Farmers has named Michael Ahmed as CEO, effective Oct. 20, the convenience retailer announced Monday evening.
- Ahmed joins UDF from adhesive manufacturer Gorilla Glue, where he was chief operating officer for the past five years. He has succeeded Brad Lindner, who is retiring after 47 years with UDF, nearly three decades of which he spent as president and CEO.
- Ahmed assumes leadership of UDF as the Cincinnati-based retailer expands its urban store design and evolves its loyalty platform at a time when c-store competition in the Midwest continues to heat up.
Dive Insight:
Lindner has officially handed over the keys to the company that his father helped establish back in 1940. He will lead Ahmed’s onboarding process before becoming UDF’s board chairperson, according to the announcement.
Although this is his first role with a retailer, Ahmed brings years of experience working with national manufacturers that are tied to the c-store industry. Prior to his run with Gorilla Glue, Ahmed spent over a decade in VP-level roles with Tyson Foods and AdvancePierre Foods, where he focused on planning and logistics, network strategy and business operations, according to his LinkedIn bio.
In Monday’s announcement, Lindner called Ahmed’s hiring a “significant shift” for UDF.
“The timing for this change in leadership is right for a variety of reasons — namely the overall health and momentum within the Company,” Lindner said. “We’ve had consistent strong business results, have a great management team in place and our strategic plans continue to produce robust sustainable results.”
Ahmed’s hiring comes as UDF, which operates 173 convenience stores across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, increasingly faces new competition in the Midwest from popular national chains. QuikTrip and RaceTrac both opened their first c-stores in Ohio in 2024, while East Coast c-store darling Wawa debuted in the state this past April.
