The Certco Food Show, held Aug. 13-14 in Madison, Wisconsin, celebrated with the theme of the “Holidays.” It kicked off on the evening of Aug. 13, with dinner and entertainment for a packed house at the John Q. Hammons Marriott Ballroom.
The event featured guest speaker Greg Ferrara, president and CEO of the National Grocers Association. He was introduced by Andy Guzauskas, long-time NGA member and owner of Prisco’s Family Market in Illinois.
Ferrara spoke about the importance of the NGA as the voice of the independent retailer in Washington, D.C. He noted the access that the NGA provides to independent retailers to services and a strong network of peers across the country, that wouldn’t be available without the participation of retailers and vendors in the association.
Following Ferrara’s presentation, Amy Niemetscheck, president and CEO of Certco, recognized retiring Certco EVP Dave Ryman. His duties will be assumed by two promotions within the organization: Justyne Uribe to EVP of procurement and category management, and Paul Frey to VP of sales and business development for Certco.
Uribe has been appointed to the board of directors’ seat vacated by Ryman. She also will assume Ryman’s ad and retail pricing duties.
Frey will take on the management of the sales team and business development duties, as well as representing Certco on the board of the Wisconsin Grocers Association.
The evening ended with Casino Night and gave a great opportunity for Certco retailer owners, vendor partners and Certco employees to engage with each other.
The show floor, opened on Aug. 14, featured a variety of booths evoking the holiday spirit – from Christmas to Oktoberfest, Easter, Valentine’s Day and even “Back to Football” – and created an exciting buzz while demonstrating the impact of food on all holidays throughout the year.
More than 450 vendors and hundreds of grocery retailers from Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Indiana were represented at the show, which featured demonstrations on building charcuterie boards and how to cut the perfect primal with minimal waste and maximum return.
The main event of the show was the Best Bagger Competition. After three heats, the finals proved out with three strong winners: first place, Erasmus Okey, from Okey’s Family Market in Caseville, Wisconsin; second place, Dana Knudtson from Miller’s & Son’s in Verona, Wisconsin; and third place, Griffin Miller from Miller’s Foods in Lyndon Station, Wisconsin.
The event is the biggest wholesale grocery food show in Wisconsin and showcases a subset of over 60,000 SKUs that Certco distributes to independent retailers in their market.
Certco serves independent grocery retailers with products and services ranging from meat and produce to a full variety of center store, frozen, dairy, deli, HBC, general merchandise and marketing and accounting services.
[RELATED: Certco Leadership Transitioning As Ryman’s Retirement Nears]
