Ahold USA Honors Vendor of the Year Award Winners

Ahold USA paid tribute to several of its vendors at the company’s 2011 vendor meeting last month in Hershey, Pa., by bestowing its Vendor of the Year Awards. SVPs of Ahold’s various category areas selected the winning vendors.

“[W]e are very proud of the strong relationships we maintain with [vendors,] as these partnerships are important to the success of both of our businesses,” noted Jeff Martin, Ahold’s EVP merchandising and marketing. “The vendors recognized this year have gone above and beyond for the Ahold USA business in their responsiveness, innovation and strategic thinking.”

The 2011 award recipients are as follows:

• Nonperishable Vendor of the Year: Unilever, accepted by Jim Kernan
• Fresh Vendor of the Year: State Garden Inc., accepted by Mark DeMichaelis
• Direct Store Delivery Vendor of the Year: Kellogg’s/Keebler, accepted by Richard
• Greenberg
• Marketing Partner of the Year: Unilever, accepted by Rebeca Cardona
• Supplier Diversity Award: EMD Sales Inc., accepted by Elda Devarie (also a Progressive Grocer Top Women in Grocery for 2011)

Quincy, Mass.-based Ahold USA is part of Ahold, a Netherlands-based international food retailing group that operates supermarkets in the United States and Europe, and consists of four regional divisions: Stop & Shop New England, Stop & Shop New York Metro, Giant-Landover, and Giant-Carlisle. These divisions collectively operate 750 supermarkets with more than 100,000 associates in 13 states and the District of Columbia along with Peapod, an e-commerce grocery shopping/delivery service.