Minnesota Grown Honors 4 Retailers for Produce Displays

The Minnesota Grocers Association (MGA) has awarded four retailers as Minnesota Grown Retailers of the Year for their displays of locally-grown produce.

Mackenthun’s Fine Foods was honored as the single-store winner; Festival Foods won in the nine stores or fewer category; Lunds and Byerly’s won the 10 or more stores category; and Kowalski’s Markets was named the People’s Choice winner.

Winners were selected based on the number of Minnesota grown products they offer, the number of local farmers the stores sourced from, as well as the quality of promotional activities. The winning retailers receive a commemorative plaque as well as the rights to use the Minnesota Grown Retailer of the Year logo in their ads and displays for the next year.

The awards were presented by MGA President Jamie Pfuhl and Dave Frederickson, Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner. “Minnesotans prefer to buy products grown by their farms,” Frederickson said. “Grocers who use the Minnesota Grown logo in their displays make it easy for customers to identify and purchase locally grown foods. It’s good for our farmers and good for our state’s economy.”