CHICAGO, IL – IGA today announced that Bozzuto’s Inc. has been named IGA 2012 USA Licensed Distribution Center of the Year and will receive the IGA President’s Cup at the 2012 IGA Global Rally Awards of Excellence Banquet at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, on Mon., Feb. 13, 2012. The President’s Cup is presented annually to the IGA USA Licensed Distribution Center (LDC) of the Year, in honor of the company’s extraordinary effort in support of its IGA retailers and the IGA brand. This is the seventh time Bozzuto’s has received the President’s Cup since the award’s inception in 1973.
According to IGA CEO Mark Batenic, Bozzuto’s has a long history of developing and maintaining meaningful relationships with its IGA retailers. “Bozzuto’s has been servicing IGA retailers in the northeast for over 42 years now and in that time they’ve proven to be a true champion for IGA. Bozzuto’s is strongly committed to helping its IGA retailers serve their communities in the best possible way, and equally devoted to growing the power of the brand with new Bozzuto’s supplied stores.”
In 2011, Bozzuto’s demonstrated its dedication to IGA by:
•new IGA stores
•supporting IGA marketing programs and creating additional merchandising programs for its IGA retailers
•increasing IGA Exclusive Brand product sales and introducing new IGA Exclusive Brand products to its inventory
•enhancing IGA’s community-focused brand platform with IGA-branded local cause marketing activities, including raising over $220,000 for Special Olympics and working with the Connecticut food bank to deliver food for more than 20,000 needy families.
“In the course of the last year, Bozzuto’s has played a vital role in the success of its IGA retailers by providing services that go well beyond that of supplying food. Day in and day out, Bozzuto’s worked with IGA retailers to foster the regional connections that make the brand strong and IGA stores the ‘preferred place to shop’ in communities throughout the northeast. We here at IGA are very pleased to name Bozzuto’s our 2012 IGA USA LDC of the Year. We commend this great family-owned wholesale company for all it does to support the IGA brand and its retailers.”
Upon receiving the news, Chairman, President and CEO, Michael A. Bozzuto, expressed deep appreciation to suppliers, customers and employees. “I am proud of the dedication and tireless efforts of all our partners. I thank our suppliers for their ongoing pursuit of innovative programs and unique opportunities for our customers, our IGA retailers for their ‘Hometown Proud’ commitment to the communities they serve, and all the Bozzuto’s employees for their hard work and determination to make us better every day.”
The Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) is the world’s largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $31 billion per year. The alliance includes more than 5,000 Hometown Proud Supermarkets, supported by more than 30 worldwide distribution companies and more than 55 major manufacturers, vendors and suppliers known as IGA’s Red Oval Family partners. IGA has operations in 46 of the United States and more than 30 countries, commonwealths and territories. For more information about IGA, visit the IGA consumer website at www.iga.com, or the business site at www.becomeiga.com.
Cheshire, Conn.-based Bozzuto's Inc. is a leading total service wholesale distributor of food and household products to retailers in New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Established in 1945, the company is headed by Chairman, President and CEO Michael A. Bozzuto.
Source: IGA