About Doug
Doug Rauch is a celebrated food industry leader who spent 31 years at Trader Joe’s, including 14 years as President, helping grow the company from a small chain into a popular national supermarket. After retiring in 2008, Rauch shifted his focus to social challenges. While a Fellow at Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, he developed a bold solution for food insecurity by focusing on wasted food. This idea became his brainchild, Daily Table, an innovative non-profit grocery store. Daily Table was founded on the principle of providing nutritious, quality food—often surplus or excess inventory from growers and distributors—at prices comparable to or lower than junk food, all while maintaining a dignified retail shopping experience. Daily Table opened its first location in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 2015 and grew to multiple locations in the Boston area. Tragically, in May 2025, the Daily Table grocery stores ceased operations due to the compounding pressure of historically high food price increases and funding difficulties. Despite the closure, the organization’s unique model served over 3 million customers and is hailed as a powerful proof-of-concept for solving hunger with dignity. Rauch continues to advocate for purpose-driven business as a founding board member and former CEO of Conscious Capitalism, Inc. He was honored with the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Leadership Award in 2018 for his work.
