FMI Names Winners of 2022 Gold Plate Awards

The FMI Foundation is bestowing some of its highest honors upon companies and organizations within the food industry that have implemented outstanding family meal programs. The Gold Plate Awards were doled out earlier this week, with special attention being paid to programs that connect family meals and mental health benefits.

“Our partner organizations make the Family Meals Movement possible,” said FMI Foundation Executive Director David Fikes. “This year we are showcasing the people who make food retail, supplier and community family meals programs stand out. Our live Gold Plate Awards ceremony is our way of saying thank you to all those who champion the importance of family meals.” 

Fikes and FMI Digital Communications Director Kelli Windsor announced the winners during a livestream broadcast, with each category winner receiving a commemorative plate.

“The recipients of the 2022 Gold Plate Awards represent a collective industry effort to help families stay strong with family meals,” said Leslie G. Sarasin, president and CEO for Arlington, Va.-based FMI. “I’m particularly proud of the programs that went the extra mile to connect the importance of family meals, however one defines family, to mental health. Through creative messages, in-store promotion and innovative employee engagement, the passion for the Family Meals Movement is just one way our industry stands out.” 

The winners are:

• Retailer 1 – 49 stores: Martin’s Super Markets, Inc. for its “Be A Family Meal Champ” program
• Retailer 50 – 199 stores: SpartanNash Co. for its “Our Family, Building Strong Families” program
• Retailer 200+ stores: Hy-Vee, Inc., for its special events that infused National Family Meals Month messaging with the celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month
• Supplier: Pure Flavor for its “Eat Well Together to Be Well Together” program

Honorable mentions:

• Brookshire Grocery Co. 
• ButcherBox
• Skogen’s Festival Foods
• Merchants Distributors, LLC
• Rouses Markets
• Weis Markets, Inc.

Blue Ribbon recipients (organizations that effectively connected family meals to mental health benefits in their family meals programs):

• ButcherBox
• Coborn’s, Inc.
• Hy-Vee, Inc.
• K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc.
• Martin’s Super Markets, Inc.
• Pure Flavor
• Rouses Markets
• SpartanNash Co.
• Tops Markets
• Weis Markets, Inc.