(Photos by Lindsay Sisting for PMG)
While his colleagues all note his willingness to listen, Cady can talk, too.
“Jeff is definitely a charismatic leader,” said category business manager Brandon Bentley. “He inspires people to take his visions and turn them into a reality. He has a way of bringing the whole group together as if it was a group of leaders and not just one.
“He's not one that holds himself high and mighty by any means,” Bentley said. “He values everyone's opinions and makes everyone feel empowered to make decisions. I've had multiple different bosses along the way, and his style, it works very well.”
Bentley describes Cady as witty and fun, great at motivating people. Cady has been a mentor to him throughout his career, Bentley said.
Rowe said he and Bentley have seen firsthand how Cady prioritizes relationships in the industry and how important that is in produce.
“Brandon and I laugh all the time, when we go to an in-person tradeshow, it is very, very difficult to make it across the show floor when you have (Jeff) in tow because everybody knows him, everybody wants to stop and talk with him, and that definitely makes an impression on us to know that that is also a very important part of the business,” Rowe said. “It's not just business; there are personal relationships there. Then, in turn, when times do get tough, it's nice to have people that you've formed a strong relationship with ...”
Cady's involvement in the broader industry is notable; he has previously served on United's retail-foodservice board and its main board of directors, and when the Produce Marketing Association was holding virtual town halls every week at the beginning of the pandemic, Cady was always willing to contribute, sharing what Tops was seeing and how they were adapting.
“I don't hesitate,” Cady said. “If they ask a question and it's silence, I say something. I always have an opinion or an insight.”
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It's easy to tell that, while Cady is charged with making the big-picture decisions for produce at Tops these days, he still has a heart for great presentation of produce.
He is a big believer in display contests, and this year he and his team traded out the Olympics theme in favor of the Summer Sell-a-bration, an eight-week series of contests. Looking ahead to fall, he was exploring how to revamp the contest format to get more stores engaged and to have the chance to recognize more produce managers.
Cady also gets creative with the writing of the ad, looking for opportunities to have themes based on product or type of promotion. There are certainly traditional ad items selected because they drive trips, but Culhane said that each week Cady looks for one item he can get a great price on and then give managers ideas on how to make it a showstopper in their stores.
“Every week he's trying to create a different experience into a different category for the consumer to show a different face so it doesn't become boring to the consumer,” Culhane said.
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Retailers around the country have been crushing sales numbers as COVID-19 has prompted a shift in food dollars from foodservice to retail, but Cady continues to challenge his team to do better and to not take the strong performance for granted, Rowe said.
Produce specialist Tom Knapp described Cady as patient but persistent, understanding of store-level challenges but determined to find a way to get better.
Cady notes that Tops stores are not cookie-cutter; he and his team tell produce managers what they think will work well and regularly share insights into what they're seeing from the bird's-eye view, but then they turn the keys over to the folks with the best knowledge of their stores, their fixtures, their customers.
Empowering and trusting his people has served Cady well.
“He's at the top of his game right now,” Wright said. “He really is.”
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