Wakefern Food elects Capano to board of directors

KEASBEY, N.J. Wakefern Food, which runs marketing and distribution for ShopRite supermarkets, had tapped Ken Capano to serve on its board of directors, the company announced Wednesday.

Capano is the president and owner of Five Star Supermarkets, Inc., which covers two Connecticut ShopRite.

“[Capano]’s dedication to Wakefern and to the community he serves has not only been recognized by us, but also by our industry,” Joe Colalillo, chairman and chief executive officer at Wakefern Food said in a statement. “Recently, [Capano] was recognized by the Connecticut Food Association when he received their 2008 Man of the Year award. I welcome Ken to the board with great pleasure and look forward to tapping into his insight and vision as we move the cooperative forward.”

Capano has been in business with Wakefern for more than 30 years. He joined the Wakefern team as store services supervisor in 1972 and later in 1996 purchased a ShopRite store in Norwich.

Capano was also awarded the 2006 Eastern Connecticut Citizen of the Year award in 2006 by the Chamber of Commerce, reports said.