Grocery workers take the spotlight on Supermarket Employee Day

Grocery store associates nationwide came under the spotlight Wednesday as FMI-The Food Industry Association marked its third-annual Supermarket Employee Day, an industrywide campaign to recognize the efforts of the sector’s workforce.

FMI proclaimed Feb. 22 as Supermarket Employee Day back in January 2021 as a “national day of appreciation” for food retail employees, reflecting their contributions as essential workers and dedication as “frontline heroes” during the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign also is designed to underscore the importance of supermarkets as the “backbone of their communities.”

To drive industry participation in Supermarket Employee Day, FMI created an online suite of turnkey tools and resources to help members mark the occasion according to their brands and budgets. Tools include messaging, logos, proclamations, ideas for celebrations, infographics, templates for stickers, buttons, posters, T-shirts and press releases.

This year represented the third-annual Supermarket Employee Day, initially launched in February 2021. / Image courtesy of FMI

FMI noted that, since the campaign’s launch, grocers have held Supermarket Employee Day-themed special events; offered employees special promotions or discounts; and urged shoppers to highlight supermarket associates via in-store signage and social media posts. The hashtags #SupermarketEmployeeDay and #SupermarketHeros also have been set up to help curate some of the stories, and companies have encouraged governors and other local officials to enact proclamations to honor the day.

Among the talking points for Supermarket Employee Day, FMI said more than 40,000 stores in the United States sell food and groceries, and their workers maintain the “critical pipeline” of food and health supplies promoting customers’ health and wellness. These associates, too, volunteer “countless hours” to the communities they serve and are “part of the fabric of their communities,” according to FMI.

“Supermarket Employee Day is a nationwide opportunity to say thank you to grocery store workers for their important contributions in keeping our country fed, even during the most challenging of circumstances, such as those presented by a global pandemic,” FMI President and CEO Leslie Sarasin said in a statement. “And now, as families across the country continue to grapple with inflation, grocers have increasingly prioritized serving, supporting and strengthening ties with the communities in which they operate. In fact, 83% of grocers said that supporting their community was a key strategy in engaging shoppers and differentiating themselves.”

St. Louis-based Schnuck Markets is thanking its workers on Supermarket Employee Day by giving each associate with a Schnucks Rewards account 5,000 points ($10) to use for a break meal.

“Schnucks teammates at all stores, facilities and offices remain committed to our company’s mission of ‘Nourishing People’s Lives’ in our many communities throughout the Midwest,” Schnucks Chairman and CEO Todd Schnuck stated. “I invite our great customers to stop by their local Schnucks store to celebrate and thank the teammates who serve them each and every day.” 

Regional grocer Schnuck Markets honored workers on social media for Supermarket Employee Day. / Photos: Schnuck Markets

Schnucks, which has 12,000 employees and operates 114 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, also is urging customers to honor their favorite store associates in social media posts by using the hashtags #SupermarketEmployeeDay and #SupermarketHeroes. The grocer, too, noted that FMI has created a Grocery Industry Economic Impact map to provide a snapshot of the food retail industry’s economic contributions to federal, state and local economies in employment, sales and taxes.

Tyler, Texas-based Brookshire Grocery Co. said that nearly 6 million grocery retail workers nationwide help keep shelves stocked and provide communities with essential products and services. Overall, Brookshire Grocery operates more than 200 stores under the Brookshire’s, Super 1 Foods, FRESH by Brookshire’s, Spring Market and Reasor’s banners in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

For the third consecutive year, Brookshire is recognizing employees’ efforts by increasing its worker discount to a special rate of 22% that they can use on one transaction on Supermarket Employee Day. The grocer said the governors of Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, plus the Texas Senate and Smith County Commissioners Court in its hometown of Tyler, have enacted resolutions proclaiming Feb. 22 as “Supermarket Heroes Day.”

“Brookshire Grocery Co.’s more than 19,000 employee-partners help to strengthen the 165 communities we serve through our more than 200 stores in our trade area,” commented Brad Brookshire, chairman and CEO. “Retail grocery store employees play a vital role in keeping the food supply chain flowing, and our company is excited to honor and celebrate them. We invite members of the community to stop by any BGC store on Feb. 22 and any time to congratulate and thank our local supermarket heroes.”

Brookshire Grocery Co.'s Reasor's banner called on customers to honor their favorite grocery store associates on Facebook. / Image courtesy of Reasor's

Meanwhile, Southeastern Grocers (SEG) is recognizing associates’ contributions to their communities on Supermarket Employee Day by turning the spotlight on store manager Dayme Rey and district directors Gueorgui Lago and Zach Wesson, who recently were named as the company’s “Store Manager of the Year” and “District Directors of the Year.”

Rey came to SEG as a Winn-Dixie cashier after emigrating from Havana, Cuba, and in over 10 years at the grocer rose through the ranks to become store manager of the Miami Lakes, Fla., Winn-Dixie. SEG described Lago as a well-respected leader within Winn-Dixie’s South Florida region and noted that the 25-year company veteran operates one of the retailer’s most-challenging but top-performing districts. And Wesson, who rose into the management ranks after starting at SEG as a bagger in high school, is “passionate about driving sales” while also creating a “robust environment for his associates to thrive,” according to the company, which has over 40,000 employees and operates about 420 supermarkets under the Winn-Dixie, Harveys and Fresco y Más banners in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi.

“Without question, our associates’ commitment has been the engine for every gain, every success and every ‘Winn’ we’ve earned,” SEG President and CEO Anthony Hucker said in a statement. “I’m incredibly proud to be a part of this exceptional team comprised of individuals from varying backgrounds, cultures and experiences, and to have the responsibility to lead this remarkable company and first-class team is one of my greatest honors.”

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the food retail sector’s largest union, commented on Wednesday that Supermarket Employee Day could also serve as an occasion to highlight a “critical need” for the industry to enhance wages, benefits and working environments for frontline workers.

“Grocery workers—both union and non-union—have risked their lives again and again to keep food on our tables and to support American families through extreme weather events, the dire effects of inflation and a deadly pandemic,” UFCW International President Marc Perrone stated. “As America’s grocery workers union, we know from our extensive store research that the American people already appreciate grocery workers.”