Festival Foods is proud to announce Jessica Fontenot, Senior Director of Deli & Bakery, and Rebecca Bouche, Lead Buyer – Center Store, have been named Progressive Grocer’s 2026 Top Women in Grocery, a national honor recognizing female leaders in the grocery industry.
“As a Top Women in Grocery recipient, Jessica leads the Festival Deli/Bakery teams with a commitment to operational excellence, continuous improvement and innovation,” said Ken Wicker, Festival Foods’ Senior Vice President of Fresh Foods. “Jessica empowers her team to meet the evolving demands of retail food-service customers.”
As Senior Director of Deli & Bakery and a member of Festival’s Senior Leadership Team, Fontenot provides strategic leadership for the company’s Deli and Bakery merchandising programs across all 42 store locations. She leads a team supporting more than 1,000 associates while driving innovation, purchasing, merchandising, pricing strategy and operational excellence across her departments.
In 2025, Fontenot led several transformative initiatives, including the launch of Festival’s Chef Inspired Meals program, which introduced a new lineup of high-quality, ready-to-heat meal solutions and established a strong foundation for continuous growth. She also spearheaded company-wide deli merchandising improvements that significantly reduced shrink, expanded partnerships with Wisconsin-based bakery vendors to strengthen Festival’s commitment to local products, and introduced industry-leading food printing technology that positioned Festival as the first in-store bakery in the country to adopt the innovative capability. Fontenot’s focus on innovation, operational excellence and guest satisfaction continues to drive meaningful results across the organization. In 2024, she was recognized with the IDDBA Champions of Change award for her leadership and innovation.
Promoted to Lead Buyer – Center Store in 2025, Rebecca Bouche oversees the strategic direction and profitability of key Center Store categories while leading category buyers and supporting companywide merchandising initiatives. She collaborates across departments and vendor partners to develop promotional strategies that drive guest engagement, sales growth and operational success throughout Festival.
Throughout 2025, Bouche led the expansion of Festival’s Pizza Fest promotion, resulting in a significant increase in category sales during the event week. She also introduced the company’s first Ice Cream Fest, generating incremental sales, and helped launch Festival’s Essential Everyday frozen pizza program, which exceeded expectations with tens of thousands of units sold during its initial rollout. Bouche also developed seasonal display programs that generated additional incremental vendor funding while influencing merchandising strategies beyond her own categories. Bouche was previously recognized nationally with a 2024 NFRA Golden Penguin Award and a 2025 NFRA Silver Penguin Award for social media campaigns that supported frozen-food promotions.
“What sets Rebecca apart is her ability to influence, collaborate and inspire. She is constantly looking for new opportunities to grow our business, support her team and enhance the guest experience,” said Dan Estelle, Vice President of Merchandising – Center Store at Festival Foods. “Her leadership has helped drive some of our most successful promotional initiatives, and her contributions continue to shape the future of our Center Store business.”
Beyond their business accomplishments, Fontenot and Bouche are dedicated to serving their communities, a core value within Festival Foods.
Fontenot and Bouche join 7 current Festival associates who have previously been recognized by Progressive Grocer as Top Women in Grocery. Fontenot and Bouche will be celebrated alongside other 2026 Top Women in Grocery honorees this fall during Progressive Grocer’s annual awards celebration in Orlando, Florida.