UNFI names Master Marketer Award-winning grocers

Grocery distributor United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) has named Elmer’s County Market as its 2021 Grand Master Marketer in recognizing more than 20 supermarket retailers as part of its annual Master Marketer Awards competition.

In announcing the awards on Monday, UNFI said family-owned Elmer’s was honored for its consistent performance over the years. Founded in 1956, the retailer operates one full-service grocery store in Escanaba, Mich. Elmer’s also earned recognition for its industry promotions and radio ads.

The Master Marketer awards spotlight best-in-class marketing by independent grocery retailers served by UNFI’s wholesale business. This year, 155 marketing programs were submitted for the 2021 competition. Entries — submitted by professors and marketing students from St. Joe’s University, University of Wisconsin and University of Michigan — were judged based on creativity, clarity and efficacy of grocery retailers’ marketing efforts.

Dayton, Ohio-based Dorothy Lane Market was honored in four Master Marketer categories, including as the Tier 2 Master Marketer.

Aside from the Grand Master Marketer winner, 22 grocers were recognized across 29 categories in three tiers: stores sized 30,000 square feet and smaller (Tier 1), stores sized over 30,000 square feet (Tier 2) and store groups with five or more locations (Tier 3).

This year’s winners were as follows:

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Tier 1 (stores 30,000 square feet and smaller)

• Extra Effort Advertising – Jong’s (Lake Providence, La.)
• Fresh Department – (tie) Babbs Supermarket (Spencer, Ind.) and Baesler’s Market (Sullivan, Ind.)
• Grand Opening/Anniversary – Solomon’s Lucaya (Freeport, Bahamas)
• Industry Promotion – Babbs Supermarket (Spencer, Ind.)
• Natural, Organic, Specialty – Turnip Truck (Nashville, Tenn.)
• Public Service/Community – Graceway Supermarkets (Providenciales, Turks and Caicos)
• Radio Spots – Bridgewater Foods (Bridgewater, Va.)
• Website/Social Media – Sunflower (Columbus, Miss.)
• Tier 1 Master Marketer – (tie) Babbs Supermarket (Spencer, Ind.) and Graceway Supermarkets (Providenciales, Turks and Caicos)

Tier 2 (stores over 30,000 square feet)

• Extra Effort Advertising – Chris’ Food Center (Sandstone, Minn.)
• Fresh Department – Dorothy Lane Market (Dayton, Ohio)
• Grand Opening/Anniversary – Haymaker Shop N Save (Monroeville, Pa.)
• Industry Promotion – Elmer’s County Market (Escanaba, Mich.)
• Natural, Organic, Specialty – Dorothy Lane Market (Dayton, Ohio)
• Public Service/Community – Chris’ Food Center (Sandstone, Minn.)
• Radio Spots – Elmer’s County Market (Escanaba, Mich.)
• TV Commercials – Dorothy Lane Market (Dayton, Ohio)
• Website/Social Media – Harvest Market-Niemann Foods Inc. (Champaign, Ill.)
• Tier 2 Master Marketer – Dorothy Lane Market (Dayton, Ohio)

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Tier 3 (store groups with five or more locations)

• Extra Effort Advertising – Pay-Less Market (Hagatna, Guam)
• Fresh Department – Duluth Super One Foods (Duluth, Minn.)
• Grand Opening/Anniversary – Hibbing Super One Foods (Hibbing, Minn.)
• Industry Promotion – Kirby Foods Inc. (Champaign, Ill.)
• Private Brands – (tie) Duluth Super One Foods (Duluth, Minn.) and Supermercados La Torre (Guatemala City, Guatemala)
• Public Service/Community – Shop N Save (Greenburgh, Pa.)
• Radio Spots – Sentry Foods (Delafield, Wis.)
• TV Commercials – Cub Foods (Stillwater, Minn.)
• Website/Social Media – Cub Foods (Stillwater, Minn.)
• Tier 3 Master Marketer – Pay-Less Market (Hagatna, Guam)

Grand Master Marketer — Elmer’s County Market (Escanaba, Mich.)

“While the grocery industry continues to fulfill its essential purpose of providing food and services to communities across North America, we at UNFI believe it’s important to recognize the dedication and innovation throughout,” UNFI Chief Customer Officer Steve Dietz said in a statement. “We’re proud to work with each of the nominees and winners from this year’s Master Marketer program. Congratulations to all and to Elmer’s for their achievement as this year’s Grand Master Marketer recipient.”

North America’s largest publicly traded grocery distributor, UNFI operates nearly 50 distribution centers and supplies more than 30,000 retailers in the United States and Canada, including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, e-commerce retailers and foodservice providers.