The Mid Atlantic Food Trades Organization (MAFTO) has had a busy month holding two events for very different, but good, causes. First was the 11th annual signature gala sponsored by Utz Snacks the weekend of November 13-15, at the new Harrah’s Waterfront Conference Center in Atlantic City. This year’s honoree was Jim Perkins of Albertsons Companies. Jim and his wife Athena came east for the weekend and were willing participants in all of the events. Harrah’s is a new and welcome venue for the MAFTO group as it had so much more to offer the guests, including a lush indoor pool (more about that in a minute), the famous Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa and restaurants galore. Friday night’s welcome cocktail party was held at “the Pool,” which is a glass domed indoor pool complete with cabanas and bars by day and a dance club by night. Corporate sponsors were ensconced in the cabanas while food and drink were served and a buffet was offered. A life guard was on hand in case anyone went swimming, on purpose or by accident. After the private party, “the Pool” re-opened as a dance club and the millenials came marching in with thumping music going all night long. It was quite a scene, to see and at which to be seen. MAFTO president Tim Summy went outside the box with this event and it was a great success! Many Acme and industry notables attended the gala on Saturday night, including Acme president Dan Croce and Safeway president Steve Burnham, the vice presidents and many sales managers from the Acme team, and from the vendor side: Lou Eni from Dietz & Watson, Doug Clemens from Clemens Food Group and Guy Giordano of Vincent Giordano Corp. were among those feting Jim and all he has accomplished at both Acme and Albertsons. The speeches were short and sweet and the evening’s program ended with an invitation to all Acme employees to come to the dance floor while Dan pulled the string for a huge balloon drop on the team to herald in the 125th anniversary of Acme Markets. Now that’s a great kickoff! Remembering part of the reason for MAFTO’s existence, scholarships were awarded to eight deserving college students with good academic standing. MAFTO scholarship winners for 2015 are: Ashlie Haas; Kylee Kidwell, Molly King, Sarah King, Katherine Leister, Monica McNicholas, Jessica Natriello and Sean Tarzwell. There are scholarship winners for Acme as well, to be decided at a later date. Congratulations and good luck with your college education! The second event, one close to my heart, was the Christmas for All Kids Monte Carlo Night held on December 4 at Williamson’s in Horsham, PA. This event was started by Anthony L. Maglio many years ago to give toys to needy children at Christmas. Through the evolution of the association, a Monte Carlo night was added and it has become a fun event with great prizes for everyone. Of course, all attendees bring an unwrapped new toy, or many toys as some have been known to do. This year’s donations went to: Angels of God in Sewell, NJ; Sacred Heart Church in Camden, NJ; and the Willow Grove Charities in Willow Grove, PA. Consider attending on the first Friday of December 2016; it’s a great way to begin the holiday season. MAFTO memberships are free…you can sign up at www.mafto.org
Earlier this month, Giant/Carlisle announced the launch of its new fresh meal kit program at its Camp Hill and Hampden Township stores. Available in the deli or prepared foods departments, each kit features pre-measured fresh ingredients to make two servings of the selected meal as well as step by step instructions. “Our customers are busy and these new fresh meal kits are another innovative way we are helping them to save time and eat well by getting a delicious and convenient home-cooked meal on the table,” said Erik Keptner, senior vice president of sales, merchandising and marketing at Giant/Carlisle. “We include only the freshest meat and produce, all pre-measured, at a cost less than if you were to buy all of the ingredients yourself.” The fresh meal kits, which will vary by season, are all ready to prepare and cook in 35 minutes or less. In addition to being available at the Camp Hill and Hampden Township stores, Peapod customers in the Harrisburg, PA and Jersey City, NJ areas can also order the kits for delivery. The fresh meal kits will debut in an additional 10 Giant stores in the greater Philadelphia area in late January 2016. It sounds like an instore version of Blue Apron.
Save the date for the Golden Slipper Camp’s Angel of the Year cocktail party/celebration. This year a sandwich of companies will be honored. Amoroso Baking, Vincent Giordano Corp., Utz Snacks and I. Rice & Company will share the honor as money and food donations are raised for this camp in the Poconos for urban kids who would otherwise not have the chance to go to camp. This well-attended event will be held on April 13 at the Hilton on City Line Avenue in Philadelphia.
The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association’s (IDDBA) 21st annual Cake Decorating Challenge will be a featured event at the annual Dairy-Deli-Bake Seminar and Expo, to be held June 5-7, 2016, in Houston, TX. Three supermarket decorators will have the opportunity to create show-stopping displays that promote their artistic abilities and show off the talent and hard work that sells cakes for their companies. Judges are looking for decorators who have skills in three areas: production cakes, theme cakes and wedding cakes. The challenge begins with creating enough production cakes to fill an eight-foot bakery case. Day two is devoted to the creation of a custom-design wedding cake. On the last day, each contestant will decorate three cakes, one from each category: special occasion, IDDBA show theme (“Growing the Future”), and decorator’s choice. Three contestants will compete for first, second and third place trophies. IDDBA will cover transportation, lodging, and meals for each contestant during the contest. Materials and tools will be provided and each contestant will be able to keep the full set of professional cake decorating tips and supplies used for the challenge. It’s easy to enter. Decorators just need to send a photo album of their best cakes along with an entry form. Supermarket retailers may enter as many cake decorators as they choose. The deadline for entering is February 19, 2016. Visit iddba.org/cakedecorating, for more information and an entry form. Contact Jessica at 608.310.5000 or [email protected] with any questions.
Walking into the sunset from the food industry is George Morris of JOH, who has retired after decades in the Philadelphia broker scene. His career began in 1974 after graduating from college with a BA in pre-law, marrying his wife Barbara and relocating from Scranton to the Philadelphia area. He worked for James A. Weaver Co. for about five years, quickly moving up the ladder to director of grocery sales. George then moved on to Joe Perelka Co. where he was an account/business manager. After a stint at Food Enterprises where he became VP of retail sales, and as the managing partner at DLM Sales, he spent more than a decade at Joseph W. Riley Co. as an account exec. George spent another decade as managing partner at S&D Brokerage and rounded out his long and distinguished career as an account executive at JOH’s fresh division. He and his wife have two sons and one granddaughter and George plans to consult for a short time and take some time to relax!
Merry Christmahanakwanzika from all of us at Food Trade News. No matter how you celebrate this holiday season, be sure to include our troops at home and abroad in your prayers. With warm wishes for a peaceful, happy and healthy 2016, Buone feste!
Quote of the month: “Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom experience can instill in us.” Hal Borland
