NFRA RECOGNIZES LEADERS IN FROZEN FOOD PROMOS

Barbara Murray

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- In recognition of what it called the "outstanding" promotion of frozen foods this past March, the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association here recently notified 42 Gold Penguin award winners, and 52 Silver Penguin award winners, out of hundreds of entries from across the country.

The statuettes will be presented during the NFRA's annual convention, to be held in Las Vegas Oct. 19 through 23.

As a result of the annual March Frozen Food month promotions, the NFRA said the frozen food category saw incremental sales of $90 million. Frozen dollar sales outpaced the rest of the store by 4%, the highest level in the last 10 years, based on statistics from Information Resources Inc., Chicago, the NFRA said.

Seven winners will be honored this year with a specially designed Amber Penguin commemorating three consecutive Gold Penguin awards in the same category. These winners are the Arizona Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association; Atlas Cold Storage, McDonough, Ga., for allied support services; Co-Sales Co., Phoenix; the Harris Teeter supermarket chain, Matthews, N.C.; Ingles Markets, Black Mountain, N.C.; Kraft Pizza and SGA/Houck Sales, a sales and marketing agency based in Montvale, N.J., which also won an award from its regional frozen foods council.

"I just want to thank everybody, the brokers and customers, employees and the NFRA for giving us these type of programs," Nate Fisher, vice president of frozens for Ingles Markets, told SN. He said the NFRA's theme and logo of Easy Home Meals was used in "all of our ads" and was helpful.

John Eddleman, director of retail for SGA Houck Sales, said, "In metro New York, we partnered with customers and submitted entries of our initiatives at retail during March. "We worked closely with Key Food [Brooklyn, N.Y.], but were involved with various other customers and with our principals, submitting entries on their behalf," he said.

There is no shortage of talent and hard work among these winners. Jewel Foods, Batavia, Ill., and Wegmans' store in Hornell, N.Y., were singled out for Overall Store Promotion. Retail Best Department Display had six Gold Penguin winners, four of them Harris Teeter stores, and also an Albertsons in Arcadia, Calif., and Fry's store 104, Flagstaff, Ariz. Each had an assisting broker honored as well.

Awards for Retail Corporate Chain or Division 10 to 50 stores was Harmon City, West Valley, Utah. In that same category, but in the 50-or-more stores class, the winners were Giant Food Stores, Carlisle, Pa.; Harris Teeter; Ingles Markets; Ralphs Grocery Co., Compton, Calif.; and Winn-Dixie Stores, Jacksonville, Fla.

Five Ralphs units and one Albertsons store won for Retail Endcap Display.

Sales Agent, Independent, winners were Co-Sales Co. and SGA/Houck, while Acosta Sales and Marketing, Philadelphia, based in Norristown, Pa., won the Sales Agent, National/Divisions award.

Best Wholesaler was URM Stores, Spokane, Wash.

Silver Penguins will be given to Bashas', Mesa, Ariz.; Crossroads Country Market, Wausau, Wis.; Fry's store 25 in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Kings Super Markets store 38, Chatham, N.J.; Tops Markets units 119 in Grand Island and 228 in Tonawanda, N.Y.; and Winn-Dixie store 190 in Jacksonville, Fla.

Silver Penguins for Retail Best Department Display will go to three Arizona stores: Albertsons, Glendale; Bashas' unit 13, Scottsdale; and Fry's unit 72 in Gilbert; also to the Jewel store in Batavia, Ill., that won a Gold Penguin in another category; two Kings Super Markets, in Cresskill, N.J., and Berkley Heights, N.J.; Save Mart Supermarkets, Santa Clara, Calif.; the Kroger Co. of Michigan store 707, Ypsilanti; and Tops Markets unit 119, Grand Island, N.Y., which also was a Gold Penguin winner in another category.

Big Y Foods, Springfield, Mass., won a Silver Penguin for Best Corporate Chain or Division of 10 to 50 stores, as did King Kullen Grocery Co., Bethpage, N.Y.; Kings Super Markets, Parsippany, N.J.; and Mass Marketing, doing business as Super S Foods, San Antonio.

Silver Penguins for Retail Corporate Chain or Division, 50 or more stores, will go to Albertsons Southwest Division, Tolleson, Ariz.; Bashas' Markets, Chandler, Ariz.; Fry's Food Stores, Tolleson, Ariz.; Jewel-Osco, Melrose Park, Ill.; Key Food Stores Co-op, Staten Island, N.Y.; and Wakefern Food Corp., Keasbey, N.J.

Cub Foods gets a Silver Penguin for Retail Chain or Division of less than 10 stores. This division is also known as Lofino's Food Stores Inc., Beavercreek, Ohio.

Albertsons, Bashas', Ralphs and six Fry's stores won for Retail Endcap Display. Silver Penguin wholesaler awards go to Bozzuto's Inc., and Adams Super Food Stores, Cheshire, Conn.; Nash Finch Co., Minneapolis; Supervalu, Central Region, Xenia, Ohio; and Unified Western Grocers, Livermore, Calif.

Acosta Sales & Marketing Co., New Orleans, in St. Rose, La., and Acosta - Boston, based in Marlborough, Mass., won for Sales Agent/National.