Sainsbury’s head of own-label product development and innovation Claire Hughes has stepped down from the grocery giant.

The executive departed for personal reasons and stepped down from the company last week, The Grocer understands.

Director of fresh product innovation James Campbell is set to suceed Hughes, under the newly created position of director of product and innovation.

Hughes is credited with transforming Sainsbury’s own-label and innovation strategy, including an expansion and restructure of its in-house food development teams at its Holborn head office.

She joined the retailer from M&S in 2018, after spending almost 13 years under various food development and nutrition positions.

Posting on LinkedIn, Hughes said: “After 7 incredible years, I have said farewell to Sainsbury’s. The last 7 years have been an amazing journey full of purpose, challenge and working with brilliant people but I’ve decided to take a break to focus on family.

“Looking back, I’m proud of what we achieved in my time there, rebuilding the innovation team, tripling our rate of innovation, growing Taste the Difference to over £1.8bn and championing plastic reduction across packaging.”

The departure comes as Dunelm names Sainsbury’s chief retail and technology officer Clodagh Moriarty as its next chief executive, as current boss Nick Wilkinson prepares to retire after seven years in the role.

Moriarty, who has spent 15 years at the supermarket giant, is set to take over on 1 October, and currently sits on the supermarket’s operating board and leads store operations, digital strategy, customer experience, and technology platforms.

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