Empire's Sandra Sanderson is Canadian Grocer's 2026 Star Women in Grocery Icon

For nearly four decades, Sandra Sanderson has been at the forefront of marketing for some of Canada’s best-known brands and retailers. And that’s why she’s Canadian Grocer’s 2026 Star Women in Grocery Icon.

Now in its second year, the award is presented annually to one woman widely admired for her leadership and contributions to the Canadian grocery industry.

Since joining Empire in 2018, Sanderson has helped lead some of the company’s most significant marketing and loyalty initiatives, while navigating a period of rapid change in the grocery sector.

Yet, Sanderson’s path to grocery retail has been far from conventional. After more than a decade in consumer packaged goods with roles at Procter & Gamble, Kraft and Coca-Cola, she wanted to better understand the merchant’s perspective and be closer to customers at the point of purchase. That curiosity led her to Canada Post, where she gained experience leading marketing for one of the country’s largest retail networks. The move proved to be an important stepping stone, helping her transition into retail leadership roles at Danier, Shoppers Drug Mart, Walmart Canada and, eventually, Empire.

Throughout her career, Sanderson has remained fascinated by what she calls the intersection of art and science. “The idea of using data to decode human behaviour and having creativity build emotional connection,” she says. “That early clarity became my North Star.”

Today, Sanderson believes balance is more important than ever as grocery retail has evolved from an era of mass reach to one driven by personalization. Even with tremendous advances in technology, she says the fundamentals of great marketing—trust and connection—remain unchanged. “Technology will be able to handle the scale, but humans need to provide the heart,” she says.

While at Empire, Sanderson has helped shape several of the company’s most significant marketing efforts, including the evolution of the Scene+ loyalty program, which grew from 10 million to more than 15 million members, the launch of Empire Media+, and the “Feed the Dream” Olympic campaign. She is equally proud of helping reshape Empire’s community investment strategy, which has contributed more than $130 million to communities across Canada over the past six years.

Over time, Sanderson has also developed a leadership philosophy rooted in what she calls “confident humility.” This, she explains, is having the confidence to lead while recognizing the best outcomes happen in drawing on the expertise and perspective of others. “When I was younger, I always wanted to be right,” she says. “Now, I’m focused on getting it right and that clearly requires support and lots of diverse perspectives.” In fact, beyond any single campaign at Empire, she is most proud of “the word-class teams we built and future leaders that I’ve had the privilege to mentor.”

Sanderson will retire from Empire this summer, following the completion of the company’s multi-year transformation strategy. But, she won’t be stepping away completely. Sanderson plans to remain active through board work, advisory roles, mentoring and community involvement. “I’m really excited to be able to prioritize family time, being with friends, travel and new experiences that I just didn’t have the calendar space for before,” she says.

As for her advice to the next generation of leaders, particularly women, it is simply not to wait for the perfect career path to reveal itself. “Adopt a growth mindset, get comfortable being uncomfortable and choose the path that requires courage,” she says.