William G. McEwan is a former president, chief executive officer and director of Sobeys Inc., the second largest Canadian grocery retailer and food distributor.
[1][2] A native of Trail, British Columbia, at 15, McEwan had a part-time job bagging groceries at a local store;[3][4] he liked it so much that after a year-and-a-half at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, he returned to the business full-time.
[citation needed] McEwan spent more than 30 years in the grocery retailing and consumer packaged goods industries, with Ferraro's Ltd. (Super Valu), Coca-Cola (where he was vice president market development, Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd.) and The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P).
McEwan joined Sobeys in November 2000 as president and CEO,[3] was also on the board of directors for CIES - The Food Business Forum, and is a past chairman of the Grocery Industry Foundation Together (GIFT) in Canada.
[4][3] In November 2005, McEwan was presented the Golden Pencil Award, The Food Industry Association of Canada's highest distinction.