United Fresh Announces

2007 Retail Produce Manager Award Winners

Top Produce Managers to be Honored at Fresh Marketplace Show in Chicago

Washington, DC - The United Fresh Produce Association will honor the winners of its 2007 Retail Produce Manager Award at the upcoming United Fresh Marketplace show at FMI, May 5-8, in Chicago.

• John Arellano, Raley’s, San Pablo, CA
• Ray Bowman, Hy-Vee, Sioux Falls, SD
• Karen Cappuccilli, Winn Dixie Stores, Inc., Port Charlotte, FL
• Edward Fairbrother, Price Chopper, Syracuse, NY
• Tim Fearing, Niemann’s Foods, Inc., Sterling, IL
• James Fornelli, Jewel Osco, Highland Park, IL
• Jose Guadarrama, Food4Less, Riverside, CA
• Jeffery Ingram, Brookshire Grocery Co., Tyler, TX
• Carol Johnson, Raley’s, Loomis, CA
• Kevin Kinsley, Hy-Vee, Rochester, MN
• Ken Korson, Meijer, Traverse City, MI
• Cay McConnell, K-VA-T Foods, Blountville, TN
• Sandy McMichael, Market Place, Columbia, IL
• Jim Miner, Bashas’, Sedona, AZ
• Jorge Muñoz, Safeway, Inc., Morgan Hill, CA
• LeRoy Reesman, Albrecht’s Sentry Foods, Delafield, WI
• Shane Scarbrough, Brookshire Grocery Co., Jackson, MS
• Thomas Sciarrino, Price Chopper, Dunmore, PA
• Shari Spence, King Soopers, Highland Ranch, CO
• Michelle Williams, Food Lion, LLC, Charleston, SC

The winners will be recognized for their outstanding efforts to increase produce consumption through everyday excellence in merchandising, special displays and promotions, community service, and commitment to total customer satisfaction. All winners, and their corporate produce directors, receive complimentary registration, travel and hotel accommodations to the upcoming convention and will be recognized during the Fresh Marketplace Opening Reception and Retail Awards Banquet, Sunday, May 6 at the Hyatt Regency, Chicago.

During the celebrations, four “Grand Prize” recipients will be announced to receive an additional $1,000 cash prize. Several winners will also share their advice on produce success at the store level during Ideas from the Front Lines, a workshop that takes place during our half-day Retail Marketing Produce Short Course on Saturday, May 5.

Winners were selected from competitive nominations submitted by retail chains, independent supermarkets, and produce companies across the country. “All of the nominees are to be commended for their outstanding work,” said Frank Padilla, assistant vice president, GMM fresh foods at Costco Wholesale, chairman of the Retail Produce Manager Awards Review Committee. “There were so many excellent nominations that selecting only a few winners was a tough job. The level of commitment and creativity that managers across the country are using to promote produce is truly incredible,” he said.

The 2007 United Fresh Retail Produce Manager Awards Program is sponsored by Ready Pac. “The entire produce industry relies on these managers to help us reach the consumer everyday,” said Dennis Gertmenian president and CEO of Ready Pac. “We here at Ready Pac are pleased to sponsor this program as a great way to recognize these produce managers for their outstanding performance in promoting fresh fruits and vegetables.”

“The industry’s response to this program was better than ever this year,” said Amy Philpott, United Fresh’s vice president of marketing and industry relations. “Retailers and produce companies are using this program as a way to honor those store-level produce managers who go out of their way to promote fresh fruits and vegetables.” she said. “The tremendous response to this program reaffirms just how important this program is in creating role models for our industry, and in drawing attention to the importance of these managers at point-of-sale.”

Applications for the 2008 Retail Produce Manager Awards Program will be available this fall online at http://www.unitedfresh.org/, with winners again to be honored at the United Fresh Marketplace show the following May. “I encourage all retail members and produce marketers to begin looking now at potential nominees for the 2008 Awards Program, and make sure to note outstanding performances throughout the year” said Padilla.