Retailers Snag ‘Minnesota Grown’ Honors

Three grocery retailers emerged as the winners of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s first Minnesota Grown Retailer of the Year Awards.

The awards, announced at the Minnesota Grocers Association’s recent annual industry luncheon, were presented by Minnesota Grown spokesperson Carrie Tollefson and Jamie Pfuhl, MGA president.

Winners were recognized in three categories: Single Store, Mackenthun’s Fine Foods; Retail Group of 9 Stores or Less, Festival Foods; and Retail Group of 10 or More Stores, Lunds and Byerly’s.

Tollefson said the stores did a first-class job of promoting Minnesota Grown products. “It’s an honor to be able to recognize the grocers who have done the best job of making it easy for their customers to buy these locally grown foods,” she said.

Winning entries were selected based on the number of Minnesota Grown products and the number of Minnesota farmers that the grocer carried. Judges also considered how the grocer promoted these products to their customers through ads, displays and the use of promotional venues like Facebook pages and other social media channels; 10 percent of the points were awarded based on fan voting on the Minnesota Grown Facebook page.

In addition to a commemorative plaque, winners receive the exclusive rights to use the Minnesota Grown Retailer of the Year logo in their ads and displays for the next year.