Las Vegas, NV – The National Grocers Association (NGA), the trade association representing the independent supermarket industry, along with sponsoring partners Kellogg Company and Unilever, celebrated the winners of their annual Creative Choice Awards contest at the 2022 NGA Show at the Caesars Forum Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Winners of the contest, which honors the best marketing and merchandising programs in the independent community grocery industry, were recognized during a breakfast session this morning, kicking off the third and final day of the annual conference. The session also included a panel discussion of winning retailers, led by Creative Choice emcee Meg Major, a grocery trade press veteran who’s now the director of industry relations at NielsenIQ.
“Independent community grocers are leaders in creativity and innovation in merchandising in marketing, made even more challenging during a pandemic,” said Laura Strange, NGA’s senior vice president of communications and external affairs. “This year’s winners impressed our judges by demonstrating their skill in creating campaigns with messages that resonate with consumers, including such diverse topics as self care, mental health and random acts of kindness.”
Judged by a panel of industry experts and trade press members, the contest features eight categories in which one winner and at least one honorable mention are chosen. The judges determined category winners based on creativity, clarity, innovation and effectiveness of each entry. Additionally, two special recognition award winners were selected. In all, NGA received more than 300 award entries.
From the category winners, one “Outstanding Marketer” and one “Outstanding Merchandiser” were selected by the independent supermarket community and their supporters through online voting. Winners will receive complimentary registration to the 2023 NGA Show.
This year’s Outstanding Marketer is Harvest Market’s Cooking with Emily. The Outstanding Merchandiser is Roche Bros. Football Food Fun.
A complete list of the category winners can be found here. You can also view videos detailing the entries of the marketing and merchandising winners.
Following the awards breakfast, Day 3 of the NGA Show continued with expo floor exhibits open until midday, followed by an afternoon of education sessions covering topics including food safety, succession planning, front-end technology, labor costs, digital communications, green energy and ransomware.
The afternoon general session opened with a state of the industry report by IGA CEO John Ross, followed by John Phillips, senior vice president of customer supply chain and go-to-market at PepsiCo, addressing attendees on “Navigating The VUCA Supply Chain in the Post Pandemic Era.” The show concluded with a closing celebratory reception.
The 2023 NGA Show is scheduled for Feb. 26-28, 2023, at the Caesars Forum Convention Center in Las Vegas.
About NGA NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale community grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. An independent retailer is a privately owned or controlled food retail company operating a variety of formats. The independent grocery sector is accountable for about 1.2 percent of the nation’s overall economy and is responsible for generating more than $250 billion in sales, 1.1 million jobs, $39 billion in wages and $36 billion in taxes. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers located in every congressional district across the country, as well as state grocers’ associations, manufacturers and service suppliers. For more information about NGA, visit www.nationalgrocers.org.
