Amazon puts its global customer service chief in charge of Amazon Fresh

Tom Weiland, Amazon’s head of global customer service, has been put in charge of managing Amazon Fresh, according to his LinkedIn profile. Amazon is currently in the midst of rapidly expanding its Fresh service across the country. Last year, the company started delivering groceries to interested customers in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and anumber of signs point to Amazon Fresh opening up in New York later this year.

Amazon has tapped its global customer service chief, Tom Weiland, for the top role at the Amazon Fresh grocery delivery business as it gears up for nationwide expansion. Weiland, who has run Amazon’s global customer service operations and technology since 2005, was recently named VP and general manager of Amazon Fresh, according to his LinkedIn profile. He replaces former Amazon Fresh VP Rick Batye, who retired. Fresh is Amazon’s growing business that delivers fresh produce, meats and packaged groceries, along with tens of thousands of other products, to customers’ doorsteps within 24 hours of ordering. After testing and refining the service in Seattle for more than five years, Amazon began operating Fresh in Los Angeles and San Francisco last year. Grocery industry sources expect Amazon to start offering Fresh in anywhere from six to 20 new markets over the next 12 months.