KROGER TAKES HOME MOST KOSHER AWARDS

WILLIAM SMYTH

CHICAGO -- The Kosher Food Distributors Association here recently announced the retail winners of its annual Rosh Hashanah ad contest, which helped promote sales of kosher food. Of all of the winners, the Kroger Company, Cincinnati, took home the most awards -- nine in total.

The objectives of the contest were to not only promote the merchandising and sales of kosher food, but to recognize those efforts which best address the needs of the kosher consumer. Submissions were divided into four categories: black-and-white, two-color, full four-color and continuous ad campaign -- and spanned six geographic regions across the United States and Canada.

Kroger took first place in the black-and-white category for the West, Midwest and Southeast divisions. Kroger was also second place in black-and-white in the Midwest and Mid-Central divisions, third place in the Southeast, first and second place in the Southeast for two-color, and first place for the four-color category in the Southeast division. Kroger was the only company to win a special award for continuous ad campaign.

Thirty-five awards in all were given out for the most effective, consumer-friendly ads, and each included a plaque to the retailer, a monetary award of $100 to a charity of the retailer's choice and a plaque to the kosher-food distributor who supplied the retailer with the traditional kosher products.

Ralph's Grocery Company, Compton, Calif., won two awards, bringing home first place for black-and-white and four-color in the West division. Safeway, Lanham, MD, took second place awards in four-color in the Mid-Atlantic and two-color in the West. Another double winner, Seven Mile Market in Baltimore, Md., and Pikesville, Md., won first place in the black-and-white and four-color categories in the Mid-Atlantic division. Other big retailer winners included Shaw's, Star Market, Stop & Shop, Big Bear, Dominick's, Jewel Food, Giant, Meijer and Albertson's.

Some smaller chains that took home awards included King Soopers, Denver, Colo.; Lucky's in the Los Angeles area; Sunset Foods, Highland Park, Ill.; Bilker's, Cincinnati; Omni Foods, Chestnut Hill, Mass.; Seessel's, Memphis, Tenn.; and Butcherie, Brookline, Mass. Canadian retailers IGA, No Frills and Loblaws placed first, second and third, respectively, in the four-color category for the Mid-Central division.