Confectionery Leadership Award Winners Named

The National Confectioners Association (NCA) has revealed the recipients of the 2014 Confectionery Leadership Awards: Tim Erceg, purchasing specialist at West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee, and Jamal Parker, senior buyer candy and snacks at Sam’s Club, based in Bentonville, Ark. The awards honor contributions to the category through effective business collaboration, category management best practices, and innovative merchandising of confectionery products in-store.

Erceg and Parker were nominated by industry colleagues and then chosen as winners by NCA members, based on creativity, innovative thinking, and leadership and support with the category.

“This award recognizes and rewards the talent and dedication of the industry’s trade customers who go above and beyond expectations," noted Larry Graham, president of Washington, D.C.-based NCA. “There were so many deserving and worthy candidates submitted, but the members felt that Erceg and Parker are truly pioneers who exemplify the visionary thinking required to bring value to and propel the category forward.”

In 2011, NCA and its Candy & Snack TODAY magazine created the awards program, which enables NCA manufacturers and brokers to recognize outstanding confectionery retailers and wholesalers for effective customer marketing, shopper-driven shelving practices and promotion of new items.

Erceg and Parker will receive their awards in Miami at NCA’s annual State of the Industry Conference, scheduled for March 2-5, 2014.