Lifetime Achievement - Canadian Grand Prix

AWARDS OF DISTINCTION

RCC’s Canadian Grand Prix Awards of Distinction recognize senior executives who have demonstrated outstanding service and commitment to the Canadian grocery industry. Award recipients reflect the industry’s spirit of community and demonstrate a strong commitment to innovation, both in the products their company offers to consumers and the leadership they provide within their organization.

2026 WINNERS

Lifetime Achievement
Award Winner

Cara Keating, CEO, PepsiCo Canada

Cara Keating leads more than 12,000 associates across 13 manufacturing facilities and hundreds of distribution locations, overseeing a portfolio of iconic brands such as Lay’s, Doritos, Pepsi-Cola, Gatorade, Quaker and bubly sparkling water. Her 22-year career with the company is a masterclass in earned progression. Under her leadership, PepsiCo Canada integrated its foods and beverages businesses to form Canada’s largest CPG company. The business is now bringing even more smiles to Canadians with locally manufactured products, community investments, and increased sustainability efforts.

Lifetime Achievement
Award Winner

Sandra Sanderson, Chief Marketing Officer, Empire Companies Ltd.

With a career spanning both CPG and retail, Sanderson brings a rare and complete picture of the Canadian consumer to everything she leads. After building her marketing expertise in consumer-packaged goods at Procter & Gamble, Kraft, and Coca-Cola, she made a conscious choice to pursue retail, drawn by the opportunity to forge a closer, more direct relationship with customers. The roles that followed at Canada Post, Walmart Canada, Shoppers Drug Mart, and White House Black Market in the United States built a breadth of perspective that few marketing executives in Canadian retail can match.

AWARDS OF DISTINCTION

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Canadian Grand Prix Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes individuals or families who have demonstrated outstanding service and dedication to the Canadian retail and grocery industries. They have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to their companies’ growth, and to the communities they serve.

Trailblazer Award

The Canadian Grand Prix Trailblazer Award recognizes individuals or families who have demonstrated outstanding service and dedication to the Canadian retail and grocery industries, spearheaded historic, transformational change in their sectors, and exhibited both passion and courage in their leadership.

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