Last updated on February 18th, 2019
The Minnesota Grocers Association (MGA) has named the Silver Plate Award winners of its 2018 Bag Hunger Campaign contest (listed below). The contest is part of a statewide campaign coordinated annually by MGA that engages Minnesotans in the fight to bag hunger in their neighborhoods.
The 2018 campaign donated $10,000 to Second Harvest Heartland with an additional $16,000 donated to hunger relief partners across the state.
Since 2008, participants in the MGA’s hunger campaign programs have provided more than 38 million meals to hungry families in Minnesota.
The Bag Hunger Campaign brought together retail members, vendor partners and community food banks to fill local food shelves across the state. Participating stores and vendor locations offered multiple opportunities for consumers to contribute to the campaign. Some stores 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 displayed the names of customers who donated money on shopping list icons in their stores.
“The success of the Bag Hunger Campaign is driven by the exceptional efforts and generosity of our members, vendor partners, community food support agencies, and most significantly, Minnesota’s grocery customers,” said Jamie Pfuhl, president of MGA. “The excitement and dedication demonstrated by all partners, participants and community members is inspiring. We are proud to play a role in this collective effort to end hunger in Minnesota’s communities. Congratulations to our Silver Plate Award winners for their wonderfully creative, engaging and effective efforts.”
The winners of the Silver Plate Awards created in-store displays that best depicted the campaign’s theme to bag hunger in their neighborhood and were required to use a combination of in-store advertising and vendor products. In addition to the award, each winning company or partnership will receive $1,000 to donate to the food charity of its choice on behalf of the Bag Hunger Campaign.
Best Creative Partnership
The Best Creative Partnership Silver Plates were awarded to a vendor and retailer who teamed up to create a display with central theme that educated consumers about the fight to end hunger. This year’s winning teams were Post Consumer Brands and Coborn’s for their St. Cloud display; Old Dutch Foods Inc. and Radermacher’s Fresh Market for their Le Sueur displays; and Post Consumer Brands and Teal’s Market for their Cass Lake displays.
Best Overall Program Support
The Best Overall Program Support Silver Plates were awarded to one vendor and two retailers that met the above requirements, as well as collaborated with other campaign participants. The retailer single store award was presented to Jerry’s Foods of Eden Prairie; the retailer chain store award was presented to Cub Foods based out of Stillwater; and the vendor award went to Kemps, in St. Paul.
Best Marketing And Social Media Campaign
The Best Marketing Campaign Silver Plate was awarded to Chris’ Food Center in Sandstone and the Best Social Media Campaign Silver Plate was awarded to Hy-Vee in Owatonna.
As part of the program’s ongoing efforts to make meaningful impacts in the communities MGA serves, participating companies also were given the chance to be awarded Campaign Champions. These companies receive will receive $500 to donate to the food charity of their choice on behalf of the Bag Hunger Campaign. This year’s winning companies were Baxter Cub Foods, Creative Retailer; Knowlan’s/Festival Foods, Creative Retailer; Russ Davis Wholesale, Creative Vendor; Brink’s Market-Chisago City, Donation Totals Submitted; Hub Food Center-Zumbrota, Donation Totals Submitted; and Faribault Foods Inc., Best Use of Hashtag.
“We must all work together to address hunger in our state,” said Marsha Shotley, chief philanthropy officer, Second Harvest Heartland. “We are immensely grateful for partners like the Minnesota Grocers Association members, who work with us, and together with stores, vendors, and consumers provide generous food contributions to the communities we serve.”
