2025 Generation Next winner James Lam

After earning his business degree, James Lam was working for a painting
company; and while painting an impressive oceanfront house, a
lunch break chat became a turning point. “My co-workers were talking about how nice it must be to live in a home like that,” he recalls. “At that moment, I decided I wanted more.”

Deciding grocery would be his path to success, Lam quit his job and started as a clerk at Pattison Food Group’s Save-On-Foods banner in Tsawwassen, B.C. Within three months, he was promoted to supervisor and, a year later, assistant store manager. In 2023, he became a store manager in Yorkton, Sask., where his innovative approach to reducing shrink transformed his store’s performance and earned him a spot presenting at the 2025 Pattison Food Group Summit. Named a Rising Star at the company’s Leadership Excellence Awards, he’s also proud of building a high-performing team and mentoring two assistant managers who are now store managers themselves.

He’s now store manager in Grand Prairie, Alta., and the ambitious Lam hopes to continue achieving great things with his company: “The Pattison Food Group has so many amazing leaders that hold their teams and themselves to the highest standard, and that inspires me.”

See the full list of Generation Next 2025 winner profiles.

Profiles were published in the December 2025/January 2026 issue of Canadian Grocer.