Clearlake grocery store owner appointed to California Grocers Association board chair

A Clearlake grocery store owner was recently elected to the chair of the board of directors for the California Grocers Association.

Dennis Darling, owner of Foods Etc. was appointed to the Board of Directors Executive Committee of the association, a nonprofit association that acts as a resource for brick-and-mortar retailers and grocery supply companies in California.

Darling is one of six individuals elected to the 2022-2023 Board of Directors Executive Committee for the California Grocers Association.

“Dennis has been integral to ushering our community of independent operators into the Association,” association president and CEO Ron Fong said in a statement. “As an independent store owner himself, Dennis has a personal perspective and deep dedication to our industry, making him well-suited to lead our members through the upcoming year.”

Darling was a part of the California Independent Operators Association before it merged to be a part of the California Grocers Association in 2014.

As part of the board, Darling wants to continue working with elected officials across California on issues affecting independent grocers like rising inflation.

“I want to make sure that (the association) continues to advocate for the grocers,” he said.

Darling also said he wants to recruit more independent grocery store owners and get them involved with the California Grocers Association and connect with local elected officials to educate them on policies that would help consumers, grocers and retailers.

“In a lot of the bigger cities, there’s not necessarily that connection between the local grocer and the elected officials, and that’s something I’m focusing on this year is to try and create those connections,” Darling said.

Darling said inflation is one of the biggest things impacting the grocery industry, with grocers having trouble raising prices fast enough to keep up with business costs.

He also said consumers could start seeing more self checkout lines in 2023 as grocery stores grapple with hiring enough employees to maintain good customer service.

“The fact that gas and diesel are dropping (in price) is going to help a lot because so much of the products in stores have to travel by rail and go on trucks and all of that has become a lot more expensive recently,” Darling said.

“The industry is doing everything it can to streamline things and hopefully, you’re going to see some price moderation in the next year.”

Darling and his wife, Ruth, have been operating their grocery store Foods Etc., which has a location in Clearlake and Susanville, for the past 25 years.

They are passing the grocery stores to their daughter and son-in-law as Darling becomes more involved with the board.

“It’s time for me to give back to the industry that’s been really good to me,” Darling said.

You can reach Staff Writer Sara Edwards at 707-521-5487 or sara.edwards@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @sedwards380.