Michigan Mixer

MARK HAMSTRA

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Food retailers and suppliers mingled with professors and students at the 42nd annual Western Michigan University Food Marketing Conference here last month. Speakers included Fred Morganthall, president of Harris Teeter, Charlotte, N.C., who discussed some of the chain's merchandising strategies, and Craig Sturken, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Spartan Stores, who recapped the company's resurgence over the past several years. This year two members of the faculty were given awards that usually go to food retailers and suppliers. Andrew A. Brogowicz, professor of marketing at WMU, won the 2007 Adrian Trimpe Distinguished Service Award, and Frank Gambino, director of the food marketing program at WMU, won the Outstanding Marketing Alumni Award.