SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — SN unveiled a new awards program last week by honoring two retail companies and one retail executive during the Friends of the Industry Dinner at the Food Marketing Institute's Midwinter Executive Conference here.
SN Community Service Award to Price Chopper, Schenectady, N.Y. Neil Golub, president and CEO, received the honor on behalf of the organization.
SN Marketer of the Year Award to Brian Cornell, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Safeway, Pleasanton, Calif.
In brief acceptance remarks, the executives pointed to the hard work of colleagues and other associates as critical to the successes. Safeway's Cornell answered the question of what it feels like for a veteran of the consumer packaged goods industry to switch to the retail side. "Tonight it feels pretty good," he said.
The recipients were chosen by SN editors based partly on industry nominations. In addition to the awards, the seventh annual Friends dinner, which drew more than 300 food industry executives, once again generated contributions for educational and scholarship programs. This year, dinner co-sponsors raised about $100,000 for FMI member companies and associations for scholarships and continuing-education activities, said Bill Kies, principal, Kies Consulting, Chicago, who co-founded the dinner and now manages it. Recipients of contributions included Network of Executive Women, Western Association of Food Chains Education Fund and FMI Foundation. To date, about $500,000 has been distributed by dinner co-sponsors.
Primary sponsors of the event included Source Interlink Cos., Kraft, McCormick, ACNielsen, Accenture, Musco, Spar Group, Storecast Merchandising Corp., Hallmark, Hershey's, PepsiCo, Diageo, Kimberly-Clark, Smucker's, Catalina Marketing, NestlT Purina, Wrigley, ConAgra Foods and Kies Consulting.