The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA-headquartered National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) has announced the winners of the newly revamped Golden Penguin Awards for its 2016 March Frozen Food Month promotion. The month-long campaign helped drive extra traffic into retail store frozen food aisles across the nation and increase sales for many categories and brands.
NFRA has awarded 20 Gold and 28 Silver Awards. In addition, five companies will be honored as Top Marketers during the trade association’s October 22-25 annual convention in Washington, DC.
The Gold Awards winners will be specifically recognized at a networking reception on October 24, at which time the Top Marketer Awards will be presented. Silver Awards are typically distributed locally during regional frozen food association meetings.
In an effort to create a renewed level of prestige and recognition, NFRA made significant changes to the Golden Penguin Awards program this year. New categories that better reflect contemporary marketing practices, a streamlined online entry system, a numeric scoring platform and a redesigned award provided a fresh opportunity for companies to be nationally recognized for excellence in merchandising and marketing frozen and refrigerated foods.
Eleven new categories include: In-Store Display; In-Store Event; Community Involvement; Social Media and Digital Marketing; Traditional Marketing; Private Brand Campaign and Integrated Marketing Campaign with sub-categories for Retailer, Wholesaler, Manufacturer, Sales Agent and Local Association. Plus, the Top Marketer Awards honor the best of the best. The highest scoring entry in each of the Integrated Marketing Campaign sub-categories will be named the Top Marketer.
Retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, sales agents and local associations of any size (including military commissaries) could enter any category applicable to their business. Entries were judged on their own merit, taking into consideration organization size and/or program budget. These changes also apply to NFRA’s other promotions for June Dairy Month and Ice Cream & Novelties.
The Gold Awards winners are as follows:
In-Store Display
- Albertsons 1002, Phoenix, Arizona, assisted by Co-Sales Company, Phoenix
- Nellis AFB Commissary, Las Vegas, Nevada, assisted by Webco G.P., Aldie, Virginia
- Robins Commissary, Robins AFB, Georgia, assisted by Advantage Solutions, Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey
In-Store Event
- Chris’ Food Center, Sandstone, Minnesota
Community Involvement
- Chris’ Food Center, Sandstone, Minnesota
- Harmons Grocery, West Valley City, Utah
- North Florida Frozen Refrigerated Foods Association, Jacksonville, Florida
Traditional Marketing
- Associated Grocers, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Social Media and Digital Marketing
- Acme Markets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Integrated Marketing Campaign-Local Association
- Frozen & Refrigerated Food Council of Northern California, Alamo, California
Integrated Marketing Campaign-Manufacturer
- Ateeco Inc. / Mrs. T’s Pierogies, Pottsville, Pennsylvania
Integrated Marketing Campaign-Retailer
- Acme Markets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- FoodMaxx Stores, Alamo, California
- Giant Eagle Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Price Chopper/Market 32, Schenectady, New York
Integrated Marketing Campaign-Wholesaler
- Bozzuto’s Inc., Cheshire, Connecticut
- C&S Wholesale Grocers, Robesonia Logistics LLC, Robesonia, Pennsylvania
