Keasbey, NJ – ShopRite announced that, for the second year in a row, it has won the FMI Foundation Gold Plate Award for its Family Meals Month campaign. The award was presented during the trade organization’s annual FMI Midwinter Executive Conference held January 26 in Phoenix, AZ.
The prestigious award recognizes elite retailers, suppliers and community collaborators who create innovative and impactful campaigns to promote National Family Meals Month™, an annual national campaign aimed at helping families share one more meal each week at home.
“This is an incredible honor and we are so proud to have been singled out amongst all of the largest supermarket retailers in the country for our work on this year’s Family Meals Month campaign,” said Natalie Menza-Crowe, RD, MS, Director of Health and Wellness at ShopRite.
ShopRite’s 2019 campaign, titled “Family Meals Month: From Our Family to Yours,” featured family members who individually own and operate stores that make up the retailer-owned supermarket cooperative Wakefern Food Corp. “We wanted to let both customers and employees know that our cooperative is made up of families, real people just like them, who work hard and play hard, and also struggle to find the time to enjoy family meals – but realize that it needs to be a priority,” added Menza-Crowe.
“We are continually impressed by the commitment of the more than 400 companies who join the family meals movement,” said David Fikes, Executive Director of the FMI Foundation. “These stores make a difference in their communities and their shoppers’ lives. Today’s winners found new ways, through innovative partnerships and programs, to support families having more meals together.”
Results of a nationwide survey with Harris Poll show 36% of Americans are cooking more meals at home and eating together more often as a family, and 41% are making healthier food choices, as a result of National Family Meals Month in September. The National Family Meals Month campaign witnessed a 45% increase in retailer participation; a 107% increase in supplier participation; and a 159% increase in community collaborators since last year, according to FMI Foundation.
Wakefern and ShopRite took the Gold Plate Award in the Retailer 200+ stores category for ShopRite’s Family Meals Month campaign.
In addition to a robust omni-channel program that included highway billboards, digital ads, social media posts and circular advertising, ShopRite’s in-store dietitians held events, cooking demonstrations, classes and provided customers with free recipe books to support the campaign. “Our mission was to tell our customers and employees that we get it – making time for family meals isn’t always easy – but it’s possible with the help, education and the kind of boots-on-the-ground inspiration that can only be found at ShopRite,” said Menza-Crowe.
About ShopRite
ShopRite is the registered trademark of Wakefern Food Corp., a retailer-owned cooperative based in Keasbey, NJ, and the largest supermarket cooperative in the United States. With nearly 280 ShopRite supermarkets located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves millions of customers each week. Through its ShopRite Partners In Caring program, ShopRite is dedicated to fighting hunger in the communities it serves. Since the program began in 1999, ShopRite Partners In Caring has donated nearly $50 million to food banks that support more than 2,200 worthy charities. As a title sponsor of the ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer, ShopRite has donated $34 million to local organizations, hospitals and community groups. For more information, please visit www.shoprite.com.
