MGA Honors Faribault Foods

Faribault Foods is one of four companies statewide to be recognized by the Minnesota Grocers Association for their exceptional efforts to end hunger in their communities.

Faribault Foods participated in the October 2012 “Minnesota’s Own” campaign to end hunger and has been awarded for the fourth year in a row with an MGA Silver Plate Award for Best Overall Program Support – Vendor.

Minnesota’s Own raised food and monetary donations to provide over 6.2 million meals to Minnesota families in need. It was coordinated by MGA and included more than 224 MGA retail members, 13 vendor partners and community food banks and food shelves across the state.

Participating stores and vendor locations offered multiple opportunities for consumers to contribute to the campaign. Many retailers encouraged customers to donate grocery items in-store or round up their purchase totals at the register, contributing the price difference to feed local families. Others prominently displayed the names of customers who donated money on grocery list icons. All food and monetary contributions collected were distributed to local food shelves, banks and support organizations across the state.

Faribault Foods received the Silver Plate Award for Best Overall Program Support - Vendor in the Minnesota’s Own display contest, which offers a chance for participants to get creative with in-store displays, while engaging consumers to end hunger. Statewide, 265 stores and vendors participated in this year’s display contest. In addition to the award, Faribault Foods presented a $1,000 to the food charity of their choice, Emergency Foodshelf Network, on behalf of the Minnesota’s Own program.

Faribault Foods was recognized as a Silver Plate Award winner based on its contributions and in-store displays for its brands: Butter Kernel Vegetables and S&W Beans. As part of the event, Faribault Foods created a new campaign called “Can for a Can” that let consumers directly contribute to fighting hunger. For every can of Butter Kernel Vegetables or S&W Beans purchased in MN in October, another can of food was donated to a Minnesota food bank. The campaign was embraced by consumers, resulting in over 110,000 cans of food being donated to Hope For the City and Channel One food banks in Minnesota.

“We enjoy working with MGA members on this important program,” said Jill Kupfer, Faribault’s director of marketing. “With their support, we were able to deliver over 110,000 cans of food to food shelves throughout Minnesota.”

“It is exciting to see these partnerships develop and everyone’s hard work on the Minnesota’s Own program make a positive difference for Minnesota families in need,” said Jamie Pfuhl, MGA president. “I applaud Faribault Foods on its successes in this campaign. All of our participants did a great job raising awareness on a community level and rallying consumers behind this important cause.”

The Minnesota Grocers Association is a state trade association representing the retail food industry since 1897 with more than 200 retail members operating nearly 1,100 stores statewide, and 100 distributors and manufacturers.

IN THE PHOTO: David Peterson, Faribault Foods; Jamie Pfuhl, MGA president; Jill Kupfer, Faribault Foods