Coborn's Honored for Fighting Minnesota Hunger

Minnesota-based grocery operator Coborn’s Inc. is one of six companies in its home state to be recognized for efforts to end hunger in the communities in which they operate.

Coborn’s participated in the October 2014 “Minnesota’s Own” campaign, which raised food and monetary donations to provide more than 8.7 million meals to Minnesota families in need. It was coordinated by the Minnesota Grocers Association (MGA) and included 241 MGA retail members, 14 vendor partners and community food banks and food shelves across the state.

Participating stores and vendor locations offered multiple opportunities for consumers to contribute to the campaign. Many retailers 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 prominently displayed the names of customers who donated money on grocery list icons. All food and monetary contributions collected were distributed to a variety of local food shelves, banks and support organizations across the state. 

Silver Plate Award

Coborn’s received the Silver Plate Award for Best Overall Program Support – Retail in the “Minnesota’s Own” display contest, which offers a chance for campaign participants to get creative with in-store advertising while engaging consumers to end hunger. Statewide, 255 stores and vendors participated in this year’s display contest. In addition to the award, Coborn’s presented a $1,000 donation to the food charity of their choice, Catholic Charities Food Shelf, on behalf of the “Minnesota’s Own” program.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to put together a promotion that makes such an impact on our local communities,” said Chris Coborn, president and CEO of Coborn’s Inc. “Thanks to our generous guests, employees and vendors, we have been able to provide a lot of food to many people in need. When we can use our business to help eliminate hunger, we all are affected in a very positive way.”

“It was exciting to see these partnerships develop and everyone’s hard work on the 'Minnesota’s Own' program make a positive difference for Minnesota families in need,” said Jamie Pfuhl, MGA president. “I applaud Coborn’s on its truly outstanding success in this campaign. All of our participants did a great job raising awareness on a community level and rallying consumers behind this important cause.” 

St. Cloud, Minn.-based Coborn’s Inc. is an employee-owned grocery retailer with 48 stores across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin under the Coborn’s, Cash Wise Foods and Save-A-Lot banners. The Minnesota Grocers Association has more than 200 retail members with nearly 1,100 stores statewide, as well as approximately 100 distributors and manufacturers.