Coborn's Selected as Supervalu's Grand Master Marketer

St. Cloud, Minn.-based Coborn’s Inc. was presented with Supervalu's 2014 Grand Master Marketer award before some 1,250 independent fellow retailers who gathered in St. Paul this week for the wholesale distributor's first-ever national sales show. Coborn's claimed the top prize for Supervalu's Master Marketer competition, which recognizes and celebrates the top marketing campaigns from the company’s 1,800-plus independent retailer customers in categories ranging from public service to television to social media.

“The Master Marketer recognizes the best of the best when it comes to our independent retailers’ advertising and marketing campaigns,” said Janel Haugarth, Supervalu's EVP and president of independent business and supply chain services. “Our independent business customers set the standard when it comes to serving their customers, and we are excited to recognize and celebrate those achievements with them this week.”

This year, the competition included more than 450 entries from grocery retailers throughout the nation, with 20 winners selected across 10 marketing categories. Each category includes a Tier 1 and Tier 2 winner, with each tier based on size and volume of the company’s business. In addition to the category winners, an overall Master Marketer for each tier was selected, with Pennsylvania's Boyer's Foods taking home Tier 1 honors and Wisconsin's Sentry Foods receiving Tier 2’s top recognition.

Each winner is automatically entered into the National Grocers Association's Creative Choice awards, which is presented at the trade organization's annual convention in February.

The full list of winners across all categories includes:

•         Extra Effort Advertising – Tier 1: C&K Markets/Ray's Food Place, Ore. - Lunchbox Giveaway

•         Extra Effort Advertising – Tier 2: Sentry Foods, SE & Central Wis. - Best Meat in Town

•         Grand Opening/Anniversary – Tier 1: Ken's New Market, Cynthiana & Paris, Ky. - 34th Anniversary

•         Grand Opening/Anniversary – Tier 2: Landis Market, Telford, Pa. - 75th Anniversary

•         Public Service/Community – Tier 1: Foster's Food Fair IGA, Grand Cayman, BWI - Food Bank, Health Fair

•         Public Service/Community – Tier 2: Shop 'n Save, Pa. - S.E.E.D Program

•         Fresh Departments – Tier 1: Al's Lakeshore Foods, Mich. -Lobstermania

•         Fresh Departments – Tier 2: Coborn's, Princeton, Minn. - Easy as 1-2-3

•         Center Store Departments – Tier 1: Western Market, Rocky Ridge, Vestavia Hills, Ala. - Warehouse Sale

•         Center Store Departments – Tier 2: Mackenthun's Fine Foods, Waconia, Minn. - Gluten Free

•         Website/Social Media – Tier 1: Wyatt's Supervalu, Falmouth, Ky.

•         Website Social Media – Tier 2: Wayfield Foods, Atlanta, Ga. - Wayfield Website

•         Private Brands – Tier 1: Boyer's Food Markets, Pa. - Mrs. B's Pie Extravaganza

•         Private Brands – Tier 2: Remke Markets, Erlanger, Ky. - 10 Cent Wednesdays

•         Industry Promotions – Tier 1: Handy Foods IGA, Ottawa, Ill. - Ribfest

•         Industry Promotions – Tier 2: McCaffrey's Supermarket, Princeton, N.J. - Nutella

•         Radio Spots – Tier 1: Tatsuda's IGA, Ketchikan, Ark.

•         Radio Spots – Tier 2: Dissmore's IGA, Pullman, Wash. – Steak Place

•         TV Commercials – Tier 1: Springfield Market, Richardton, N.D.

•         TV Commercials – Tier 2: Skogen's Festival Foods, Wis. - Fresh Flight Fish

With annual sales of approximately $17 billion, Supervalu serves customers across the United States through a network of 3,320 stores composed of 1,805 independent stores serviced primarily by the company’s food distribution business, 1,325 Save-A-Lot stores, of which 931 are operated by licensee owners; and 190 traditional retail grocery stores (store counts as of June 14, 2014).