Dick Bestany

Supervalu has committed $1 million to sponsor 1,542 youth sports teams in markets where its Acme, Albertsons, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Jewel-Osco and Shaw’s/Star Market stores operate. The sponsorships underscore the company’s commitment to local neighborhoods.

The sponsorships, which began last spring, have helped to offset the cost of local youth baseball and soccer programs for kids between the ages of 4 and 10. All told, the sponsorships have supported 1,542 teams – 761 baseball teams and 781 soccer teams – providing more than 20,000 kids with the opportunity to participate in sports.

“As America’s Neighborhood Grocer, we are continuously looking for opportunities to give back to our local communities, particularly in areas that promote healthy lifestyles,” said Shelly Nelson, Supervalu corporate director of strategic media services. Because diet and exercise are important to well-being, we saw this sponsorship as a complement to our focus on helping our shoppers eat well and a nice way to support stronger – and healthier – neighborhoods.”

We are sad to report the death of Lovena Smith Atwell, who died last month after an 11 year battle against cancer. When Lovena retired from Giant/Landover, she held the position of manager of tech support. As Dave Herriman, also retired from Giant, put it, “She was a very special person and one of the reasons for Giant’s success. She will  be missed.”

Locally based Phillips Foods announced the promotions of Brice Phillips as vice president of retail and club sales; Donald Manning as northeast regional manager; and Carol Tippett as vice president of marketing and strategic development.

As the Network of Executive Women (NEW) celebrates its 10th anniversary, the organization announced that Sue Klug, president of the Southern California division of Supervalu has been awarded the Bobbie O’Hare Award for outstanding service to the NEW.

“Sue played an instrumental part in the founding, management and engagement of the Network’s Southern California region,” noted former NEW regional chair Bobbie O’Hare, vice president of sales development for JOH, who helped establish the network’s regional groups.

“She is a servant leader, an individual that leads a large retail business but also gets in the trenches to get work done.” O’Hare presented the award at the NEW Leadership Summit last month in Orlando.

The greater Philadelphia Area chapter of NEW will host a panel of industry experts November 9 to discuss the topic “Leadership Lessons for Today and tomorrow.” The panelists will share their personal thoughts and leadership lessons and how they have incorporated them in their professional and personal lives.

Keynote speakers at the event will be: Meg Ham, president Bottom Dollar Food; Rick Herring, president of Giant/Carlisle; Caitlin Pappas, vice president  of consumer sales, U.S., Johnson & Johnson; E. Daniel Vucovich Jr. senior vice president, U.S., The Hershey Company. The moderator of the event will Rosalyn Taylor O’Neale, vice president, chief diversity and inclusion officer, Campbell’s Soup Company.

The event, held at the National Constitution Center at Independence Mall in Philadelphia, begins at 5:00 p.m. To make reservations, go to www.newonline.org, click on the calendar at the left side of the home page and scroll down to Greater Philadelphia.

The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of NEW, in partnership with the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), is hosting a luncheon at the Willard InterContinental (Washington, DC) Ballroom on December 13. For more information on this luncheon contact Yvette Seoane at [email protected].

We are happy to report that retired Baltimore-Washington food broker David Finkelstein, Kluge Finkelstein & Company, is doing very well after major surgery last month.

We were pleased to learn that retired Safeway (Eastern Division) vice president Roger Herding is enjoying his retirement days. We understand he was recently sighted by one of Food World’s roving reporters on a cruise ship which had 6,000 passengers and a crew of 2,200.

Roger, as anyone who has worked with him or called on Safeway’s Eastern Division knows, seldom took a day off, let alone a vacation for any extended period.

Our representative reported to us that Roger was seen on the Zip Line of a major cruise ship, and also on a Flow Rider which shoots water out at 35 mph and then he was spotted doing the rock wall climb. He was also reported bamboo rafting in Jamaica. But most of all, we understand that he really is enjoying himself spending time with his children, grandchildren and his lovely wife, Phyllis.

This year marks the 40th anniversary for Pennsauken, NJ based J&J Snacks Foods Corp., the world’s largest producer of soft pretzels.  It was on September 27, 1971 when the assets of J&J Soft Pretzel Company were purchased at bankruptcy auction by Gerald B. Shreiber. At the time, the company had 80 employees and sales of less than $400,000 annually.

Today, as J&J celebrates 40 years of record sales, it has more than 3,000 employees, sales of nearly $750 million and distribution throughout both national and international markets.

Publix Super Markets, Google and UPS have taken the top spots in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Index, a ranking of the 50 companies with the best corporate citizenship reputations among the U.S. public. Rounding out the top 10 were Kellogg’s, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, FedEx, Campbell’s, Baxter International and 3M.

However, the index revealed an overall drop in ratings of companies’ social responsibility, suggesting that the public this year is more demanding of companies. Scores dropped across the board, and this year’s top score of 80.59 (out of 100) compares to 82.67 in 2010.

The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, together with the Reputation Institute, developed the index to understand how companies’ reputations are affected by public perceptions of performance related to citizenship (the community and the environment), governance (ethics and transparency) and workplace practices. Rankings in the 2011 CSR Index are based on a survey conducted in January 2011 of 7,790 online consumers. The top-ranked companies last year were Johnson & Johnson, The Walt Disney Company, Kraft Foods, Microsoft, Pepsico, Apple, Hershey’s and SC Johnson. Kellogg’s and Google came in ninth and 10th last year, making them the only companies to make the top 10 two years in a row.

And up Boston way, our friends from Wegmans recently opened a 138,000 square foot store in Northborough, the first of three slated to open in Massachusetts. We understand that the store broke Wegmans’ opening day record, with 25,000 shoppers making their way to the opening. That record was previously held by the retailer’s first Virginia store that opened in 2004 in Ashburn, VA. A mere 20,000 shoppers visited that store on opening day.

Anniversary wishes go out to: Mars Supermarkets’ Ted and Kathy D’Anna, their 24th; International Food and Beverage’s Frank and Sherry Rich, their 44th; and Metromedia’s Ed and Carol Hopkins, their 32nd. A special happy anniversary wish goes out to Food World’s Lou and Mimi Rosenthal, who celebrate their 65th this year!

Celebrating birthdays are: Bernie Ellis, gentleman farmer and industry consultant; King’s Contrivance general manager Richard Ackman; Goya Foods’ Jeff Ghajar; Mimi Rosenthal, wife of Food World’s Lou Rosenthal; Maryland FoodBank’s MikeD’Agro; and my grandson, Richard John (RJ) and his mother (my daughter-in-law) Stephanie Bestany.

The Empathica Consumer Insights Panel surveyed more than 16,000 North American consumers on how well grocery stores are delivering on customer service expectations today. Safeway and Wegmans Food Markets rank highest across all service elements.

Consumers from each region also revealed their primary grocery store of choice based on their overall customer experience. Those doing best overall included Wegmans in the U.S. and Safeway in Canada.

Wal-Mart ranked near the bottom of the list for operations, people and promotions among Canadians. In the U.S., Wal-Mart ranked among the lowest in those service areas, in addition to merchandise. A&P, C&S Wholesale Grocers and Unified Grocers also ranked among the lowest across all five service areas.

These conclusions were drawn by looking only at the most important customers for each brand, which are those who said they spend 50 percent or more of their money at that particular grocer. While Wegmans had the highest scores across all service elements for the U.S., Trader Joe’s, Publix Super Markets, Harris Teeter and Whole Foods Market also ranked high across four out of the five service areas, but falling short with promotions. The promotions category took into account loyalty programs, availability of coupons, as well as pricing, availability and frequency of promotions.

The top five grocers in the U.S. regions, based on overall customer experience are: Northeast: Wegmans, Delhaize America (Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar), Ahold USA (Giant/Carlisle, Giant/Landover, Stop & Shop), Wakefern Food Corp. (ShopRite) and Giant Eagle.

South: Harris Teeter, Publix Super Markets, Kroger Co., H.E. Butt Grocery Co. and Safeway.

Midwest: Giant Eagle, Meijer Inc., Kroger Co., Hy-Vee Food Stores and Aldi.

West: Kroger Co., Safeway, Supervalu, Costco Wholesale Corp., and WinCo Foods.

For the comprehensive customer experience ranking of the top 20 U.S. and Canadian retailers, contact Bruce Warren at [email protected] or 905-542-9001, ext. 242.

Children’s Miracle Network is excited to share that Giant/Carlisle and its leader Rick Herring will be honored during the 22nd annual Miracle Ball on November 19 at The Hershey Lodge in Hershey, PA.

“Children’s Miracle Network at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital is thankful for Rick and his dedicated commitment to their mission to make life better for kids and their families for more than 22 years,” the organization said when announcing the honor. “His leadership in this event helped to raise more than $5,000.000 for Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital.”

Sammy Hill, the 2011 Giant champion, and her family, will present Rick with the 2011 Miracle Innovator award during the Miracle Ball.

This signature event benefits Children’s Miracle Network at Penn State Hershey. Children’s Hospital and will feature a theme of Thanks for Giving. For more information on this event, contact Allison Mason, Children’s Miracle Network, Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, P.O. Box 855, Hershey, PA 17033-0855 or e-mail [email protected].

We were saddened to learn of the death last month of Helen Williams, mother of Nina Weiland, a long-time member of the Best-Met family. In addition to Nina and her husband John Weiland, Mrs. Williams is survived by her grandchildren, Jeffrey Weiland, Allison Weiland, Jennifer (Weiland) and Davide Mattucci, and great-grandchildren Alessia and Gianluca Mattucci.

Our sincere sympathies also go out to the family of Mitchell (Mitch) Cohen. Mitch, who was well known in the Mid-Atlantic food industry, passed away September 1. He was a long-time employee of the Reynolds Company and was active in the Baltimore

Grocery Manufacturers Representatives (GMR) organization as well as several other local grocery associations. He leaves his wife Ellen L. Cohen (nee Oseroff) and children Ryan M. Cohen and Michael S. Cohen. Contributions in his memory may be sent to the charity of your choice.

The Network of Executive Women (NEW) has awarded $20,000 in scholarships to seven college students pursuing careers in the consumer products and retail industry.

The Network, the industry’s largest diversity organization, will honor the scholarship awardees at the NEW Leadership Summit 2011, Sept. 19-20, in Orlando.

Scholarships for 2011 were awarded in June to graduate students Katie Childress, attending University of Colorado, Boulder, and Jennifer Stellmacher Rheault, of California State University, Long Beach. Undergraduates receiving scholarships were Trang Ayers of Portland State University in Portland, OR.; Katelyn Harvey and Colleen McDonnell of Philadelphia’s St. Joseph’s University; Kari Lazarski of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI; and Tamera Pumphrey of Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA.

Childress will graduate in 2012 from the University of Colorado, Leeds School of Business, with a master of business administration degree. Among her accomplishments is her promotion at age 25 to forecast manager at the North American Wholesale division of Patagonia, managing the inventory team for Canada, the United States and corporate sales. Childress said she is pursuing an MBA to advance her career, specifically in the apparel or organic food industry.

Rheault expects to graduate form California State Long Beach in 2012 with a master of business administration degree. She has served as a marketing professional at Valassis for the past 1l years, working with Nestle, Unilever, Kellogg Company, Johnson & Johnson and other CPG companies.

Ayers, a native of Vietnam and mother of six, is pursuing a degree in finance, with a minor in food industry management at Portland State University. She earned an undergraduate degree in information technology in Vietnam prior to moving to the United States in 2004.

Harvey, a food marketing major at St. Joseph’s University who expects to graduate in 2013, participated in a co-op program at Johnson & Johnson, Sales & Logistics Company in Skillman, N.J. last year. She will participate in a Neutrogena Cosmetics sales strategy co-op in New York City beginning in the fall.

Also a food marketing major at St. Joseph’s University, McDonnell spent last summer working as a management intern at Wegmans in Harrisburg, and will spend this summer as a Wegmans merchandising intern at the supermarket chain’s Rochester, NY headquarters. She expects to graduate next May.

Lazarski is majoring in food and CPG marketing and integrated supply management at Western Michigan University. The mother of a three-year old, Lazarski will graduate in 2012.

Pumphrey, who is majoring in accounting and business administration, expects to graduate in 2013 from Gonzaga University. While pursuing her education, she has worked her way up from courtesy clerk to supervisor at the Shadle Center Safeway in Spokane, WA.

The scholarship winners received a free one-year membership in the Network of Executive Women, the consumer product and retail industry’s largest diversity organization.

NEW has awarded $90,000 in scholarships since 2005. “NEW has not only aided me in financing my school but it has provided me with great networking opportunities,” noted Lashawndra Lawrence, a Tuskegee University graduate student who received a scholarship in 2010. “NEW has given me new insight regarding my role as a woman in the industry and shown me that it is possible for women to be successful.”

Our wishes for a speedy recovery are sent out to Children’s Cancer Foundation president and founder Shirley Howard, who we understand has been hospitalized. She was recently transferred to Baltimore’s Northwest Hospital Sub-Acute Rehabilitation from Sinai Hospital Acute Rehabilitation for physical therapy. We understand she is on the road to recovery and is doing well.

We received a very nice note last month from Ray Turek, a retiree who started in the food business working for Standard Brands in the Baltimore-Washington area in 1945. When Standard Brands began to breakup, he joined Consoladated Foods, which became Sara Lee. He retired from the business in 1985, after a 62 year food industry career.

He and his wife of 66 years Loretta make their home in Beltsville.

Following in his father’s footsteps, his eldest son, Ray Jr. has been with Giant/Landover for more than 32 years. And his grandson, during summers and vacations from college, works part-time for Giant. He tells us he still enjoys reading Food World every month.

Birthday wishes go out this month to: Policy Solution’s Barry Scher; Best-Met Publishing’s CFO, William Speakman; Andy Metzger, son of Best-Met’s Jeff and Audrie Metzger; Carl Jablonski; a friend of the food industry, retired; Paul Bell, Bell Sales; Shirley Howard (her 87th) Children’s Cancer Foundation; and Ron Fish, president of Reading Consumer Products.

Anniversary wishes to Safeway’s (retired) Roger and Phyllis Herding, their 44th; and Maryland Department of Transportation’s Richard and Caryn Scher, their 15th.

You too can have your birthday, anniversary or any special event date published in this column by e-mailing your name (s) and dates to [email protected].

On September 19 and 20, in Orlando, FL the Network of Executive Women (NEW) will celebrate the group’s 10th anniversary by honoring the organization’s first inductees into its CPG Retail Diversity Hall of Fame and raise money for the next generation of industry leaders.

This year’s opening reception is more than an opportunity to meet new friends—it’s a chance to celebrate NEW’s first decade and honor the first-ever recipients of the Network’s William J. Grize CPG Retail Diversity Hall of Fame Award, honoring the late Ahold USA CEO. Those being honored are: Linda Dillman of Hewlett-Packard, honored for her work at Wal-Mart; Jeri Dunn of Bacardi, honored for her work at Tyson Foods; Tom Greco of PepsiCo; Don Knauss of The Clorox Company, also recognized for his work at Coca-Cola; Jeff Noddle, retired CEO of Supervalu; Kay Palmer of J.B.Hunt; Judy Spires of Kings Super Markets, formerly with Acme Markets; and James White of Jamba Juice Company, honored for his work at Safeway. The Network will also induct two companies: Delhaize America and Procter & Gamble.

Adam Borden, managing director of Bradmer Foods, a Baltimore-based venture capital and private equity firm that invests exclusively in emerging food and beverage businesses, was invited last month to be a panelist in a full-day discussion on consumer products investing. The event was organized and hosted by FundingPost Chicago. The meeting discussed such topics as “how to partner with investors and scale up consumer products companies.” Adam participated in the “Growing Your Consumer Products Business: Protecting and Selling Your Product, and Positioning It for a Capital Raise”. Other panelists included representatives from General Mills Ventures, Best Buy Capital and Hydra Ventures.

Bradmer Foods has successfully invested in five companies – Adina For Life, Blue Horizon Wild, Charles Chocolates, Organic To Go (now Ogo) and Sambazon. If you’re interested in learning more about Bradmer Foods, visit www.bradmerfoods.com.

Last month was a trip to the past.

We had an opportunity to talk to Pete Riley of the Joseph W. Riley Co. of Philadelphia, in its day ne of the best food brokerage companies on the East Coast at the time. The company served the Mid-Atlantic market. We spent the better part of an hour just talking about the “good old days” and of the many wonderful and colorful people in the industry. It was a pleasant hour and it brought back a lot of wonderful memories. Pete is in good health and enjoying his retirement days as he spoke to me from his summer home on the beautiful Connecticut Shore.

And speaking of the “good old days,” many of our readers remember the 48-store Food-A-Rama Supermarket chain that began a half century ago and was headquartered in Baltimore. Although the stores are no more, the grandson of one of the owners, the late Paul Diamond, is making a big name for himself. Jeremy Diamond is a highly-regarded voice in the Mid-Atlantic supermarket industry.

His unique strength comes in identifying and explaining food trends (such as store locations, marketing strategies, product placement, etc.) to industry executives, news reporters and consumers. Jeremy’s insights into the supermarket industry have appeared most recently in ABC News, The Baltimore Sun, The Baltimore Business Journal and in national food-related publications. He now serves as director of The Diamond Group in Baltimore. Jeremy can be reached at [email protected]

Our sincere apologies go out to Ron Fish, formerly of the Joseph W. Riley Co. Food Brokers of Philadelphia, who we wrote in this column was a “food industry consultant.”

Ron is now in his sixth year serving as president of Reading Consumer Products of Reading, PA. We understand he’s doing a terrific job. Our apologies to Ron.

Twelve confectionery industry leaders will be inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame in Tampa, FL on October 15.

The honorees are: Basil Atkinson, MD, of Judson-Atkinson Candies, Inc.; Harry Callie of Callie’s Candy Kitchen, Inc.; Chris Chase, of Integrity/ESM and a good friend of Food World’s; Andy Gormen of Pearson Candy Co.; Lee Hartman of Printpack, Inc.; Solange Isidoro of Embare Indujstrias Alimenticias S.A.; Steven Marcanello of Asher’s Chocolates; Linda Sahagian, of Sahagian & Asssoc., Inc.; Joan Sweeting, of The Madelaine Chocolate Co.; Michael Vann of Storck USA L.P.; Bill Walker of McLane Co., Inc.; and John Wynn of Eisman-Gleit Four Star, LLC and also a good friend of Food World’s.

The event will take place during the National Confectionery Sales Association’s (NCSA) 112th Annual Meeting at the Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza.

The inductees will be recognized at a gala dinner and highlighted in audio/visual biographies of their personal and professional lives.

In addition, John Molyneux, formerly of Callard & Bowser-Suchard, Inc., and Sam Altshuler, the founder of Annabelle Candy Co., Inc., will be posthumously inducted as industry pioneers.

The National Confectionery Sales Association, formed in 1899, is dedicated to furthering positive growth and acceptance of confectionery products and recognizing the achievements of category leaders from all sectors of the international industry. The Candy Hall of Fame was founded in 1971 and recognizes lifetime career achievements in the confectionery industry, with induction based on dedication to the overall betterment of the industry.

Giant/Landover and The Salvation Army National Capital Area Command together had a summer “Need Knows No Season” giving campaign. The Salvation Army brought the iconic Red Kettle to 50 neighborhood Giant stores in the Greater Washington region.

In addition, Giant has announced it will support the 2011 Red Kettle Campaign this holiday season and welcome The Salvation Army in front of all 174 neighborhood Giant locations Monday through Saturday for eight hours a day. The 2011 Red Kettle Campaign will kick off on November 10 and bell ringers will begin fundraising November 11.

Earlier this year, in honor of giant’s 75th anniversary, the neighborhood grocer presented The Salvation Army with $75,000 to further the work of Salvation Army divisions and corps across Giant’s operating area in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC and Delaware.

Our Best Wishes and congratulations go out to Clyde’s of Chevy Chase general manager Anthony Xavier Moynagh and Celia Ann Stamerro who were married on the 28th of August at Port Annapolis Marina Overlook Pavilion in Annapolis, MD.

It was a beautiful wedding befitting a beautiful couple in a picture perfect setting. (The wedding was originally scheduled for the 27th but Hurricane Irene had reserved that date.)

For those of you who have ever wandered into a Clyde’s Restaurant, you may have seen and talked to Tony. He has been part of Clyde’s management team for many years and we first got to know him when he was the General Manager of Clyde’s of Columbia. He’s a great guy and he’s marrying a very beautiful, smart and charming young lady. We wish them much happiness. (He was also born and raised in Worcester, MA and summered on Cape Cod!)

Congratulations to my daughter, Coca-Cola’s Cyndi Ireland, on completing her first Athleta Iron Girl Triathlon held in Columbia, MD last month. She completed a .62 mile swim, a 17.5 mile bike ride and a 3.3 mile run and finished 177 out of 278 entrants in her category. (And as a point of interest, her daughter, my granddaughter, Kathryn Dougherty Ireland, ran the last 10 yards of the race with her!)

Last month we lost two well know members of the food community with the deaths of Charles E. “Charlie” Markel and Don G. Hartlaub.

Don Hartlaub lost his battle with kidney cancer on August 9, 2011. He was an avid golfer and a member of South Hills Golf Club. He enjoyed spending time with family and friends and making frequent trips to Myrtle Beach, his “home away from home.”

He retired in 2006 after a 28 year career at Utz Quality Foods. He started in route sales at Snyder’s of Hanover in 1967 and moved to a similar position at Utz Quality Foods in 1977. He was promoted to route sales supervisor, then director of sales and completed his career as the vice president of sales operations at Utz. One of his major projects was the successful implementation of the Norand hand-held computer system which, modernized the route sales procedures. He leaves his wife Deanie of 47 years and his two sons, Brad and Tony. He was 67.

Contributions may be directed to the VNA of Hanover & Spring Grove, 440 N. Madison Street, Hanover, PA 17331.

The Mid-Atlantic also lost one of its most popular and well liked sales people with the death of Charles Edwin (Charlie) Markle last month.

Born in Hanover, PA in 1931, Charlie was probably the most visible sales person in the entire Mid-Atlantic. He would be everywhere. In any gathering of food people Charlie would always be there to provide samples of his wares, those delicious potato chips. He loved his work and he loved his customers. He was the “go to” guy for any charitable food affair that needed some “snacks.” He was the “go to” guy, but you never had to ask him. He would always supply the snacks. Charlie was probably the most visible of all the food sales people in the Mid-Atlantic. Everyone knew and loved “Charlie from Utz.” If a new sales person was transferred into the market from another part of the country, at a GMR meeting or any food people gathering meeting, Charlie would make himself known and would make sure the person met the members of the group.

Charlie was born in Hanover, PA and never left. He was very devoted to Utz and his home town, where he was active in many clubs and charitable organizations.

Personally, this writer can’t say enough about Charlie. He was a good friend and would help our paper in any way he could. He’d call with story ideas and to let us know that someone had died or that someone was in need of good medical help and could we suggest who they could go to. He cared and loved the food industry and the people who labored in it.

Charlie found his niche at Utz, where he began his career as a route salesman in 1958 and ended as vice president of key accounts after more than 35 years of service.

He was married to Barbara Jane Keeney Markle, who predeceased him in death, for 59 years.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Hanover Kiwanis Foundation, P.O. Box 351, Hanover, PA 17331, the Memorial Scholarship Fund to benefit a graduating student from Hanover High School, c/o Edward Jones, 1147 Reichenberg Street, Hanover, PA 17331, or St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 30 West Chestnut Street, Hanover, PA 1733l. He will be missed.

We were also saddened last month on learning of the death of Irving Rabb of Boston. “Mr. Irving,” as everyone who worked at Stop & Shop called him, was the vice chairman of Stop & Shop, the supermarket chain his family started in Boston.

He was a “healing” presence at Stop & Shop. He helped resolve disagreements, always with an eye toward improving the business. He was 98.

Anniversary wishes go out to: Ron and Terri Fish, Reading Consumer Products, their 50th; Super Rite’s retiree Matt and Mary Toback, their 62nd; Metromedia’s David and Harriet Finkelstein, their 52nd; the world renowned marketing consultant Mike and Linda Wilson; Safeway’s Greg and Carolyn TenEyck, their 28th; the food industry’s roving ambassador, Pat and Lee McCarthy, their 46th; and my son and daughter-in-law Allegian System’s Rick and Stephanie Bestany, their 11th.

Happy Birthday wishes are sent to Kathy and my grandson, Samuel James Bestany, his 7th, and to John Griffin, founder, president and chairman of the Griffin Report of New England, his 80th.

The weather in the Mid-Atlantic is, in a word, HOT!  But so is it throughout the East Coast.  Having just returned from a few days on Cape Cod, it was almost as hot there as in the Baltimore-Washington area, but not as humid even though we had more humidity than usual. At least that’s what the natives said.

The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), together with First Lady Michelle Obama, announced recently that leading grocery retailers have committed to bring healthy, affordable food to nearly 10 million people over the next five years in the form of new and expanded stores in areas that desperately need them.

Companies in the Mid-Atlantic committed to this project are Brown’s Supermarkets, Klein’s Family Markets and Supervalu.  The California Endowment, through their FreshWorksFund, has pledged to make $200 million in financing available to new, independent retail channels and innovative food distribution programs in California through financing and grants.

Currently 23.5 million Americans live in low-income areas that lack stores likely to sell affordable and nutritious foods.  Of these 23.5 million, approximately 11.5 million are individuals living in households with incomes at or below the 200 percent poverty line and 6.5 million are children.  These new and expanded stores will provide nearly 10 million Americans with the ability to purchase fresh, nutritious foods close to home.  Companies with stores in the Mid-Atlantic region are Brown’s Supermarkets, Klein’s Family Markets, Supervalu, Walgreens and Wal-Mart.

Brown’s Super Stores committed to build one store and expand one store by 2016.  The new store will be built in Philadelphia, PA and the expansion will also be in the area – both will serve a combined 150,000 individuals in low-access areas.

Klein’s Family Markets committed to build one ShopRite store by 2016.  This store will be located in Baltimore, Maryland and will serve 75,000 individuals.

Supervalu committed to build 250 Save-A-Lot stores by 2016.  The stores will be built nationwide and will serve 3,750,000 individuals in low-access areas.

Nationally, Wal-Mart and Walgreens also committed to this program.  PHA is an independent, nonpartisan organization that will mobilize broad-based support efforts to solve the childhood obesity challenge which emerged out of a series of conversations between The California Endowment, Kaiser Permanente, Nemours, The Robert Woods John Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which is a partnership with the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation. SNR Denton LLP has provided valuable pro-bono operational and legal support in establishing the Foundation.  The Brookings Institution has also contributed thought leadership to the effort.  For more information about the Partnership for a Healthier America, visit www.aHealthierAmerica.org.

Congratulations to Ed Sherwin, president, Sherwin Food Safety, on being designated as a “Subject Matter Expert” (SME) in Food Safety by the National  Restaurant Association.  Congratulations to Giant Food Stores on opening the doors of its first Philadelphia location last month.  The newly built 74,000 square foot food store employees 275 full- and part-time associates and is open 24 hours daily seven days a week.  The store includes a dedicated center for natural and organic products; a full service pharmacy; market fresh produce; a butcher shop and seafood market; a bakery shop featuring Old World artisan breads; a market square deli; WiFi with an adjacent coffee bar and tables for dining; and fuel pumps with Gas Extra Rewards for those using a Bonus Card.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said a key goal of the city’s Greenworks program is to bring local food within 10 minutes of 75 percent of the residents.

IGA has introduced the IGALink, the company’s own program that provides customized websites, mobile web apps and digital shopper marketing tools for more than 900 IGA USA retailers operating more than 1,200 stores.  Store officials said the new program will give every IGA USA retailer its own customizable website for the first time in IGA history.

Other aspects of the program include online registration tools for building a shopper database; an interactive customer shopping list feature; more than 6,000 searchable recipes that link to shopping lists; website analytics for measurable marketing results; access to unlimited e-mail newsletter capability; and access to a fully digital version of their weekly circular.

Many of our readers remember Mitch Berliner, founder of Berliner Foods.  Berliner Foods was the distributor of such treats as Haagen Dazs, Ben & Jerry’s Dove Bars, and numerous other high quality and organic frozen products.  After the company was acquired by Edy’s, Mitch opened Berliner Specialty Distributors and introduced an array of organic and specialty foods to the area.

Mitch is now partnered with Ann Brody Cove, whom some of our readers will remember as the founding Food Coordinator of Giant Foods’ “Someplace Special,” the model of quality and creativity for the gourmet departments of today’s supermarkets.  They are the founders and operators of The Bethesda (MD) Central Farm Market, a world class food market.  Located at Wisconsin and Woodmont Avenues, the market is in its third season of operation.  The market operates Sundays, Thursdays in Bethesda and Fridays in the District of Columbia.  If you’re interested in visiting the market, please visit www.bethesdacentralfarmmarket.com

Congratulations to Todd Baird, Advantage Sales and Marketing, on being promoted to president of sales for Advantage Sales and Marketing (ASM).

Celebrating birthdays this month are Sonia Diamond, wife of Food-A-Rama’s Paul Diamond and grandmother of Jeremy Diamond, her 89th; retired food broker Joanne Stathes; B. Green’s Benjy Green; Kathleen Ellis, wife of AWI’s Bernie Ellis.  It is also the 70th year for the most popular cereal brand in America’s grocery stores, Cheerios.

Celebrating anniversaries this month are Reading Consumer Products’ Ron and Terry Fish, their 50th; Best-Met treasurer Bill and Ann Speakman, their 48th; Tootsie Rolls’ Tom and Kathy LaRochelle, their 47th; Best-Met’s Nina and John Weiland, their 44th; and LaFamiglia’s Burt and Bernadette Quinn, their 35th.

Welcome to the June 2011 issue of Food World, the Annual Market Study Issue. This is the 33rd year we have published the Mid-Atlantic Grocery Industry Market Study. It is completely researched and prepared by the staff of Best-Met Publishing Company and is the most definitive study done on the grocery business on the East Coast. Retailers, food marketing companies, print and broadcast media, marketing consultants and manufacturers will be quoting the facts and figures contained here for the next twelve months. And we can proudly boast that it will be used as a source by The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous other consumer publications both national and regional.

While many in and outside the grocery industry benefit from all the research in this issue, the great companies that choose to advertise in it are the major beneficiaries. Their ads will be seen and read by every food company and food retailer doing business or wishing to do business in the Mid-Atlantic. No other medium can deliver such a targeted audience. We thank all our many advertisers and we urge our readers to support them and their products.

As you can imagine, preparing this issue is no easy task. It takes months of preparation and research from many sources. The one person who plans the issue and puts it all together is the publisher Jeff Metzger. He oversees all the work along the way and directs the entire process from beginning to end.

Heading up that team is vice president and editorial director, Terri Maloney. Assisting Terri are Jenny Jones and Matt Danielson of Electronic Ink, our production company.

Beth Pripstein, a 15-year veteran of Best-Met Publishing, has the task of maintaining our mailing lists, preparing and maintaining the billing, assisting with the proof reading, and helping with much of the research. And without our advertising staff and marketing staff, we would never have an issue to put together.  They are the most knowledgeable food trade people on the face of the earth: Karen Fernandez, director of sales and marketing; Maria Maggio, vice president/general manager, Food Trade News; advertising and sales executive Mike Keba, and Nina Weiland, advisor to the publisher.

And a very special thanks must go to our many faithful and loyal advertisers. They are the lifeline of our business and we are most grateful to them for their support. Many of them have been with us for as long as Best-Met Publishing has been publishing Food World, Food Trade News, and the Grocery Industry Directory.

And HUGE THANKS to our legions of loyal readers who have been with us for many, many years. We also welcome the many men and women who have recently joined the food industry in the Mid-Atlantic and in other parts of the United States. Our circulation reaches into every state in the United States and into some foreign countries. And as people get promoted out of the region, they still maintain their subscriptions to our papers.

Our sincere sympathies go out to the family of Leo Kahn, founder of Fresh Fields and and Heartland Food Warehouse, a big-box-style grocery that Inc. Magazine called “the first success deep-discount supermarket in the country”. Leo passed away in Boston last month of complications from a series of strokes.

Jeff and I got to know Leo from our days in Boston when he was running Purity Supreme Super Markets, his family’s small business which he had built up into one of the largest supermarket chains in New England.

In 1984 Leo sold Purity Supreme to Stop & Shop.

Soon after, Leo and one-time supermarket industry rival, Tom Stemberg, got together and opened an office supply store in Brighton, MA called Staples. Today Staples has more than 1,800 locations around the world and has sales of $27 billion a year.

Jeff and I renewed our relationship with Leo in 1991 when he started Fresh Fields, a health-oriented grocery store in Rockville, MD. In 1993, Money Magazine named Fresh Fields the store of the year. Leo sold his interest in Fresh Fields in 1994 and shortly thereafter opened Nature’s Heartland in the Boston area which he sold to Whole Foods in 1999. Leo was 94.

Congratulations to JOH’s John Saidneway on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New England Food Foundation. The award was presented to him at the organization’s 50th anniversary event.

Ahold USA has been named to DiversityBusiness.com’s “Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities,” ranking #47 in the United States. Ahold USA was honored at a special awards ceremony at DiversityBusiness.com’s 11^th Annual Multicultural Business Conference in Washington, D.C.

For the past four years, Ahold USA and its supermarket divisions have hosted a Supplier Diversity/Regional and Small Business Trade Show with a goal of strengthening the connection between agricultural, minority and retail industries. Participants have an opportunity to meet with Ahold USA’s procurement teams to discuss future business opportunities with the company.

Congratulations to Shawn Commons of PriceRite, Reading, PA, on being named one of the grand prize winners of the Food Marketing Institute’s 12th Annual Store Manager Awards. Shawn got the grand prize for Category A, companies with 1-49 stores.

Finalists are selected based on stories submitted from their supervisors or store associates. The grand prize winners were presented a $1,000 check during an awards ceremony and a crystal award.

With the second leg of the Triple Crown of Horse Racing just completed at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course, we are pleased to report that Larry Collmus who called the Derby and the Preakness will also be the track’s announcer for the Belmont Stakes, the third part of the Triple Crown.

Larry, an Ellicott City native, as it turns out, was a classmate of my son, Rick Bestany, at Mount St. Joseph High School 27 years ago.

He was the longtime track announcer at Monmouth Park in New Jersey and race caller at Gulfstream Park in Florida since 2007 and was recently picked to be the voice of the televised Triple Crown races, according to NBC Sports.

It was recently recalled by a classmate of Larry’s at Mt. St. Joe, Jim Schwartz, that Larry could pick the race of the day at Pimlico and reconstruct the whole thing in his mind and call the race after the fact during their lunch break at Mt. St. Joe’s.

Twenty six years later, Collmus is NBC’s new voice of the Triple Crown and Schwartz is head football coach of the Detroit Lions.

Since vacation season is about to begin, from time to time, we will review some restaurants from our travels to vacation spots.

We begin with a lovely restaurant on Cape Cod in Harwich Port, MA called Cape Sea Grille. Located just a few yards from Nantucket Sound it offers diners a wonderful view of the Atlantic Ocean in the heart of Cape Cod.

In a 19th century sea captain’s house, owner/Chef Douglas Ramler cooks up some of the best food found on the Cape using a variety of fresh caught native fish and local ingredients. Along with his wife, Jennifer, the two have created a restaurant that brings in locals as well vacationers. If you should ever find yourself in Harwich Port, you should plan a dinner at The Cape Sea Grille. You will be very pleased. For more information visit capeseagrille.com .

And speaking of restaurants, many of our readers are very familiar with the Prime Rib Restaurants located in Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia. Buzz Beler, founder and owner, is on a first name basis with just about every food VIP in the Baltimore-Washington-Philadelphia markets.  We congratulate Buzz on receiving the most coveted award in the foodservice industry, The Silver Plate Award.

If you have never dined at a Prime Rib, you must. They are probably the finest steak houses in the United States and privately owned. (Their prime rib is the best on the East Coast also.)  

Happy Birthday wishes go out to: Ciao Bella’s Mickey Parsons; Coca-Cola Refreshments’ Cyndi Ireland; H&S Bakery’s J.R. Paterakis; Agora International’s Jerry Shupack; and Food World’s Lou Rosenthal, Beth Pripstein, Terri Maloney, Jeff Metzger and his daughter Dana Metzger; and to my granddaughter, Kathryn Dougherty Ireland, who will be celebrating her 5th birthday.

Celebrating wedding anniversaries this month are: Edy’s John and Donna Plumhoff, their 29th; H&S Bakery’s JR and Emily Paterakis, their 29th; display consultant Mike and Jennifer Keefe, their 22nd; Utz Quality Foods’ Tom and Bekki Dempsey, their 30th; Pro-Star/Star Sales & Marketing’s Randy and Debi Holland, their 32nd; Quaker Maid Meats’ Tom and Janine Robinson, their 10th; Coca-Cola Refreshments’ Cyndi and Clyde’s Restaurants’ Bill Ireland, their 7th.

Rob Santoni Jr., Santoni’s Supermarkets, was invited last month to a meeting at the White House to discuss Health Food Financing Initiatives (HFFI).

Santoni, along with other National Grocer’s Association (NGA) members, attended a meeting with President Obama’s domestic policy staff to discuss current programs available for HFFI projects such as “Food Deserts,” and ways to improve these programs and grow participation locally and nationally.

The group also met with the United State Department of Agriculture, Health and Human Services and Treasury to discuss projects currently taking place around the country which included Baltimore’s own Virtual Supermarket Project, a partnership between Baltimore City’s Health Department and Santoni’s Supermarket that currently service Baltimore City residents in “Food Desert” communities.

Ahold USA has been named to DiversityBusiness.com’s “Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities,” ranking 47th in the United States. Ahold USA will be honored at a special awards ceremony at DiversityBusiness.com, the nation’s leading multicultural B2B online website. Over 750,000 businesses were asked ten questions regarding diversity, based on factors such as volume, consistency and quality business opportunities granted to women and minority-owned companies.

Diversity plays a vital role in business today and we are honored to be recognized by DiversityBusiness.com for the opportunities we provide,” said Jeff Martin, EVP Merchandising and Marketing, Ahold USA Retail. “Supplier diversity is an integral part of our business and we embrace it with a proactive commitment to developing business opportunities with small, local diverse vendors.”

For the past four years, Ahold USA and its supermarket divisions have hosted a Supplier Diversity/Regional and Small Business Trade Show with a goal of strengthening the connection between agricultural, minority and retail industries. Participants have an opportunity to meet with Ahold USA’s procurement teams to discuss future business opportunities with the companies.

And, Ahold USA will be recognized by the Academy of Food Marketing at St. Joseph’s University with its 43rd Citation Award on October 1. The organization’s senior leadership team, led by president and CEO Carl Schlicker, will accept the award at the dinner, which will be held at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. As our regular readers know, we are big supporters of the Academy, which provides top-notch education for those interested in entering the retail food industry. And, the Citation Dinner is always a class affair, attending by anyone who’s anyone in the business. To register for the event, go to www.sju.edu/afm/aholdcitation dinner. Or, if you’d like more information, contact Robert Higgins, executive director of the Academy, at 610-660-1600.

Last month we had the pleasure of visiting with David and Harriet Finkelstein (David, now retired, was president of the former Kluge, Finkelstein food brokerage company in Columbia, MD) at their beautiful condo in Miami. While there, David took us to one of his favorite places, Gulfstream Race Track. He also treated us to a delicious lunch at Gulfstream where we met executive chef, Will Hughes. Will, who is a Baltimorean and a delightful and charming gentleman, owns, Barracuda’s Tavern in the Fort Point section of Baltimore. If you’re in or around the Locust Point area, you should make a visit to Barracuda’s. It’s a delightful place with excellent food and of course, excellent drinks. For more information, visit www.cudabarracuda.com .

While in Miami, we also had dinner at one of the finest, if not the finest, Italian restaurant I have ever visited, Il Gabbiano. Italian cuisine at its best is the only way to describe the food, it is simply put, delicious. Classy, sophisticated and situated on the water, Il Gabbiano is located practically right in Biscayne Bay in the heart of Miami. It is a beautiful setting with wonderful views of Miami Harbor.

The restaurant is run by brothers Gino and Fernando Masci along with Luigi Tullio, who came to Miami by way of their hometown Abruzzi, Italy, with a 26-year stopover as owners of Greenwich Village’s renowned Il Mulino. Il Gabbiano is one of Miami’s top spots for quality, authentic Italian fare. Should you visit America’s favorite vacation spot, you must dine at Il Gabbiano. You won’t be sorry. For more information visit, www.ilgabbianomiami.com

Giant Food of Landover, MD recently announced the launch of its first mobile application for iPhone and Android devices. The new addition to its suite of digital offerings is the evolution of Giant’s to offer customers a variety of solutions to simplify the shopping experience. Customers are invited to download the mobile application for free at the App Store or Android Market.

“With mobile applications gaining popularity, Giant is committed to keeping up with the latest technology,” said Jamie Miller, public and community relations manager for Giant Food of Landover, MD. “We’re thrilled to launch our mobile application and look forward to continuing to develop new ways to engage and satisfy our customers in the months ahead.”

The mobile application syncs with customer loyalty cards, providing customers with access to their online accounts including monitoring Gas Rewards points, A+ School Rewards and personalized savings. Customers can access store circulars to check out every day savings on the go and also get directions to the nearest Giant.

Giant is committed to rolling out additional features to its mobile application and to continuing its tradition of staying on the cutting edge of technology and convenience in a grocery store setting. Giant also intends to conduct consumer testing to ensure that the digital application offers what customers are looking for in the latest offering of grocery shopping technology.

Zacks Investment Management, a Chicago-based investment firm, reports that Kroger ranks first with a beta of 0.54. (A beta is a mathematical measure of the sensitivity of rates of return on a portfolio or a given stock compared with rates of return on the market as a whole. A beta greater than 1.0 indicates greater volatility than the market.)

Zacks also reports that Safeway ranks second with a beta of 0.59 and Weis Markets ranks third with a beta of 0.62

Here’s an interesting piece of information. Empathica Inc., a leading provider of customer experience management solutions, recently announced a consumer ranking of industries on their adoption of technology to enhance the customer experience. The data was compiled from the Empathtic Consumer Insights Panel Survey that polled 11,000 North American consumers.

On an industry level, at the top of the ranking, 78 percent of consumers believe the supermarket and grocery store industry currently uses technology that enhances their experience. Gas stations ranked second, with 60 percent of consumers. However, only 15 percent of consumers said convenience stores were successful in doing so. C-stores ranked 13th on the list, tied with home improvement stores. In addition, only one in five consumers felt quick serve restaurants successfully leverage technologies that enhance customer service.

Supermarkets and convenience stores were ranked highest out of all industries for consumers who would like to receive mobile offers on a daily basis, with 8.8 percent and 8.1 percent reporting they preferred this contact, respectively. All other industries were at, or below 5 percent.

And in case you haven’t noticed, more and more women are in key positions with food product companies and that number is growing.

Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s “Women in the Economy” conference last month, Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, told attendees that consumer products companies shouldn’t overlook the role of women as employees or customers.

“There’s a feminization of the environment that’s happening,” Nooyi said, according to a Dow Jones report. “Having women in your organization enhances your ability to make your numbers. Women are our shoppers, our consumers. We have to have women’s voices in the company.”

The most senior levels of U.S. corporations won’t include more women unless there’s a larger pipeline of women rising through the ranks, Nooyi warned. “If you don’t fix the pipeline issue, overnight you can’t fix the top management issue,” she said. If companies promote women who aren’t prepared for leadership roles, they don’t succeed and it’s a worse position for women,” she said.

While PepsiCo does not use specific quotas, approximately 30 percent of PepsiCo executives are women, Dow Jones reported.

Sincere sympathy is sent to AWI’s Bernie Ellis on the death of his mother, Helen Ellis.

Sincere sympathy is also sent to the family of Jim Bakalis, a prominent Washingtonian who passed away last month. Jim, who was a good friend of this paper, was born in Beckley, WV. He attended Wake Forest University before entering the Navy during World War II. After the war, he received scholarships to Marshall University where he was a star basketball player having played for the school’s 1947 National Championship Team. An avid sports fan his entire life and as a season ticket holder he never missed a Redskins game in over 40 years.

After graduation from Marshall, he moved to Washington, DC, where he opened and owned many successful nightclubs. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Lillie, two daughters, Barbara Bakalis and Linda Pinkston and two grandsons.

Birthday wishes go out this month to: Safeway’s Roger Herding; Acosta Fresh Foods’ Joe Barrie and Ted Kopp; Dietz & Watson’s Rich Wright; Magruder’s Mark Polsky; Metromedia’s David Finkelstein; Southeastern Mills’ Leon Gleaves; Nestle’s Nancy Dorsey; An Pointin Stil’s—America’s Best Irish Pub—Dorsey Baldwin; and to our good friend and long time subscriber to Food World, Jim Rich. Anniversary wishes go out to AWI’s Don (retired) and Eleanor Tiesenga, their 4rd; and to Mark and Donna Tarzwell, their 30th.

Coming next month in Food World is the annual June Market Study. This issue is the most definitive study done on the retail grocery industry in the Mid-Atlantic. It has set the standard for over 30 years and next month will be no exception. It is the tool that is used by anyone talking or writing about the retail grocery industry. If you have a message to tell the grocery industry, this is the issue in which to do it. YOU WILL GET RESULTS! Food World’s June issue is read by just about every retail executive and sales executive in the United States and beyond!

In a heartwarming display of the supermarket industry’s willingness to help whenever devastation strikes–grocery store chains, large and small, food brokers, manufacturers, wholesalers– across the United States and in the Mid-Atlantic are collecting donations to aid victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Many of these organizations are accepting contributions to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund for Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami, which provides funding for relief supplies and other needs.

Most of the major supermarket companies in the United States are participating in donation drives at checkout. The ones mentioned in this column are typical of what the others here and across the entire nation are doing.

“Our hearts break for the Japanese people,” said Danny Wegman, CEO of Rochester, N.Y. based Wegmans, whose Wegmans Family Charitable Foundation is also making a $100,000 donation to the Red Cross fund.

“Many of our employees and our customers have family and friends in Japan, and we also have suppliers there. We all want to help.”

“We know every supermarket chain and independent, food brokers, food manufacturers and processors, wholesalers – large and small – are all doing something to help the people of Japan.”

Giant Food Stores and Martin’s along with Ahold USA supermarkets has announced that $100,000 will be donated to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief Fund to support disaster relief efforts to help those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Additionally, Giant/Carlisle and Martin’s will be collecting donations in all stores for the victims of the natural disasters in Japan on behalf of the Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Fund.

“Our associates and customers want to help those in need following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan,” said Rick Herring, division president. “We are fortunate to be in a position to help with humanitarian relief efforts during this difficult time.”

The Safeway Foundation announced a $100,000 donation and an employee matching pledge of up to $50,000 to help with the Japan earthquake and tsunami relief effort. The contribution will be distributed to the impacted area through the American Red Cross.

“The images of destruction that we’ve all seen are heartbreaking,” said Larree Renda, Safeway Executive Vice President and Chair of the Safeway Foundation. “At this time of need, we are pleased to join with our employees, customers and communities as we collectively look for ways to make a difference.

Safeway and the Safeway Foundation focus their philanthropy on a range of important causes, including disaster relief.

When disaster strikes the food industry is usually the first to respond with donations of food, clothing, money or whatever else is called for. It makes one proud to be a part of this amazing industry.

A big congratulations to our good friend, restaurateur Buzz BeLer, owner of The Prime Rib, who will be awarded the most coveted award in the foodservice industry – the Silver Plate Award – at next month’s National Restaurant Association convention in Chicago. Long considered the most significant and prestigious award in the industry, the Silver Plate Award recognizes excellence in foodservice operations and pays tribute to winners’ contributions to the advancement of the foodservice industry. Beler earned the 2011 Silver Plate Award in the Independent Restaurants category. Award recipients are selected by a jury that includes past winners, national trade media representatives and foodservice industry experts.

“I am honored to be included in such an esteemed group of entrepreneurs whose creativity, passion, and persistence have set a new level of excellence in the restaurant industry,” said BeLer. Most of the folks in the food industry are familiar with The Prime Rib, which Buzz and his brother Nick first opened in Baltimore in 1965. Today, there are two other Prime Rib restaurants – in Washington and Philadelphia. Nick passed away several years ago, but today Buzz and Prime Rib managing partner Garth Weldon oversee the three locations. Over the years, The Prime Rib has earned numerous awards including Best of Baltimore by Baltimore magazine; a Zagat rating as the #1 Steakhouse in Baltimore, DC and Philadelphia; one of the Top Five Romantic Restaurants in the U.S. by Food and Wine magazine; and Esquiremagazine’s Top Twenty Steakhouses in the United States.

The Network of Executive Women (NEW), Consumer Products and Retail, is accepting applications for its annual merit scholarships awarded to outstanding women students interested in a career in food, retailing or consumer products-related studies in the United States.

Qualified female graduate and undergraduate students interested in a career in food, retailing or consumer products management may download the application at www.newonline.org/scholarships. The deadline is May 1, 2011.

The Network of Executive Women, the largest diversity organization serving the consumer products and retail industry, has raised more than $100,000 in scholarships. “The generous scholarships NEW awards to deserving students have been instrumental in attracting the best and brightest women into the CPG and food retail industry,” said NEW Scholarship Chair Joy Nicholas, national account executive for WorldPay. “The scholarship recipients are introduced to the industry at the annual NEW Leadership Summit and are great ambassadors for the Network when they return to their universities.”

In 2010, the Network awarded scholarships to three students pursuing careers in retailing and the consumer products industry: Bethany Haefner, of Fayetteville, Ark.; Lashawndra Lawrence of Auburn, Ala.; and Ashley Benson of Warrington, Pa. Hefner will graduate from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in May 2012 with a master of business administration degree. She interned as a category advisor with The Hershey Co. and worked on sustainability packaging scorecards with a team at The Scotts Co.

Lawrence is graduating in May 2011 from Tuskegee University with a master of science degree in food science. She has worked as a food product and development laboratory graduate researcher at the university and has experience as a biochemistry lab undergraduate researcher.

Benson is graduating May 2011 from St. Joseph’s University with a bachelor of science degree in food marketing. She has worked as a management intern at Wegmans Food Markets and served as a student intern at the National Grocers Association’s convention.

If you’re in the produce business be it in retail, sales or manufacturing, on May 2,3,4 & 5, you will be at United Fresh 2011 in New Orleans.

Join industry leaders, retailers, manufacturers, farmers and growers, wholesalers and an international range of researchers and research organizations, providing information and new technologies to the produce industry. United Fresh 2011 promises to be the biggest and the best show they have ever had…Big ideas Big value, Big innovation, Big solutions and more all while in the Big Easy! If you would like more information on United Fresh 2011 visit [email protected].

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) announced Duke University and Team USA men’s basketball coach, Mike “Coach K” Krzyzewski, will be a featured speaker at Future Connect, the premier leadership development conference for the food and consumer products retail industry, May 10-12, in Dallas, TX.

Coach K has an amazing track record for winning. Using the insights and proven principles he applies to his coaching career, Coach K will share what he believes are the keys to success—motivational techniques, leadership skills and teamwork—that can be applied to every professional endeavor.

Future Connect is designed to help companies address the need for management development with the fast-approaching retirement of the baby boomer population. The program provides retailers, wholesalers and suppliers the opportunity to identify and develop future leaders through individual and collaborative learning sessions.

“Companies are facing a critical leadership talent gap that needs to be addressed,” said Leslie G. Sarasin, president and chief executive officer at FMI. “Future Connect can help every company build its next generation of leaders, and equally important, ensure that the talent is in place to help trading partners work together to set a strategic direction for the future.”

Future Connect is designed for participants identified as future leaders, including corporate, regional and other managers at all levels, directors, vice presidents and executives from all areas of retailer, wholesaler and supplier companies.

If you would like more information on Future Connect visit www.fmi.org.

I had a nice conversation with DPI’s Dave Goggin last month and we reminisced briefly about our days in Boston. It so happened we were speaking on St. Patrick’s Day and Dave reminded me of all the events that happen in Boston on that day.

It brought many nice memories for me. One year St. Patrick’s Day fell on a week (work) day. I was working for the Gillette Safety Razor Company in South Boston at the time. Gillette was only open for a half day that day. (Boston, as many know, is the unofficial headquarters of the Irish in the United States and a large portion of Boston’s Irish live in South Boston.) Since advancing age is catching up with me, and since South Boston has a very large Irish population, I don’t remember exactly what we did but I know we had one great time.

Giant Food (Landover, MD) announced that Giant and the USO of Metropolitan Washington worked together last month to support military families across the region. Giant hosted an in-store giving campaign, accepting both monetary and food donations to benefit USO-Metro. This campaign helps establish a USO food pantry and also supported additional USO programs.

The giving campaign gave Giant customers the opportunity to support military families by adding $1, $3, or $5 to their grocery bill at check out. Additionally, each neighborhood Giant had a collection bin where customers could donate non-perishable food items.

“At Giant, we’re honored and excited to be celebrating our 75th anniversary over the course of 2011. During March we celebrated the 1940s and Giant milestones as well as reflected on historic events including World War II. We also saluted our veterans as well as those who currently serve,” said Jamie Miller, public and community relations manager for Giant of Landover. “We’re thrilled to work with the USO of Metropolitan Washington to support military families in our region and look forward to a successful partnership.”

PriceRite announced last month that its very first store (37,000 square feet) in Maryland opened for business. PriceRite employs a self service format that includes packaged meats, baked goods, a variety of private label and national grocery brands, as well as dairy and frozen food products. The store offers a full service, high quality produce department with fresh produce delivered daily.

PriceRite stores are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wakefern Food Corp.., headquartered in Elizabeth, NJ. PriceRite operates stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Maryland.

We do not have “local” food people to send birthday wishes to this month so we picked some very popular people that, hopefully, our readers will know.

Celebrating birthdays this month are: Rick Bestany, my son, Allegian Systems; William Ireland, my son-in-law, Clyde’s Restaurant Group; Scottish singer Susan Boyle; Jack Webb, of Dragnet fame; Danish writer Hans Christian Anderson; and a personal favorite although I didn’t know him, William Randolph Hearst.

Congratulations to the Network of Executive Women Mid-Atlantic, which held a holiday luncheon in December bringing together leaders in the food industry. The event, co-sponsored by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), was held at the beautifully decorated Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington DC, and brought together more than 100 NEW members and guests.

After opening remarks by GMA President and CEO Pamela G. Bailey, attendees heard proven strategies for advancing their careers.

Sharing their experiences and insights were: Denny Belcastro, executive vice president, industry affairs and membership services of GMA; Mike Gorshe, partner, retail and consumer goods of Accenture; Stephen Neal, CEO and president of KNEAL International Trucks Inc.; and Mark Tarzwell, president, Burris Retail Logistics. Judy Spires, president and CEO, Kings Super Markets, moderated the panel.

Jeanine Jones, Mid-Atlantic co-chair and director of diversity and inclusion for Giant/Landover, credited the region’s event team for “pulling off this event during our busiest time of the year. It just proves that when passionate and committed people work together to achieve a common goal, anything is possible.”

“The Network of Executive Women is a terrific organization that has helped me grow both personally and professionally over the last two years,” noted Phyllis Moore, manager of transportation for Giant. “Participating in the regional events are always a great opportunity to expand my skills and to network with others in the industry. They truly value diversity and promote the idea that all women have a responsibility to bring other women up with them as they progress in their careers.”

We were saddened last month to learn of the death of Charles Hofmeister, one of the most popular and loved people in the Mid-Atlantic food business.

Charlie, as he was known to everyone, was a Baltimore native and lived in Severna Park at the time of his death. A World War II veteran, he was drafted into the conflict at 18. He joined the 82nd Airborne Division and was shipped to Europe to take part in the Battle of the Bulge. He was wounded and captured by the Germans. He was liberated, reactivated and then shipped back to the U.S. where he received an honorable discharge and was awarded a Purple Heart along with other citations.

Before being drafted, he had worked for Food Fair as a grocery clerk. After his discharge, he returned to Food Fair and eventually was promoted to Head Grocery Buyer.  He retired after 40 years with the company. He then joined A&P Super Fresh as executive vice president of operations of the Mid-Atlantic division. He retired in 1991.

Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Inga Hofmeister and three sons, Michael, Stephen, a Giant Food store manager, Tom and 14 grandchildren. Charlie was one of the nicest people you could ever meet. He loved the grocery business and the people who work in it, and even in retirement, he loved to talk about it whenever he met anyone involved in the business be they retailers, wholesalers or brokers. He will be missed. Memorial Contributions may be made to the American Heart Association. Charlie was 84.

Last month attended the 8th Annual Krautfest held at Gertrude’s Restaurant located inside the Baltimore Museum of Art.

The owner of Gertrude’s is John Shields, whom many of our readers know from his PBS television show, Coastal Cooking. John is also the author of numerous cook books including Coastal Cooking with John Shields and Chesapeake Bay Cooking with John Shields.

If you’ve never been to his Krautfest, make a note to do so next year. It’s a wonderful event and they feature local items like Binkert’s Knockwurst and Bratwurst, Ostrowski’s Kielbasa and a real “oompa” band playing lots of polkas. You will also eat some of the best beer-braised sauerkraut along with some super desserts like double chocolate sauerkraut cake and Krauty Berger Cookie cheesecake.

Your Krautfest ticket includes all food, soft beverages, musical entertainment and service. It’s a fun evening, one the whole family can enjoy.  

The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) elected its association officers and members of the board of directors for 2010-2011 at its membership meeting and luncheon held in San Francisco.

Jeff Thomas, VP-sales, Crystal Farms, has been elected chairman of the board. Thomas has been a member of the board since 2004, serving as vice chairman-refrigerated from 2005-2007, secretary in 2008 and as chairman-elect in 2009. He is also a member of The Distinguished Order of Zerocrats.

Other officers sworn at the Association’s 66th annual meeting were: Dan Maloney, Publix Super Markets, chairman-elect; John Larsen, Safeway Inc., secretary; Ray Tarnowski, Philadelphia Warehouse & Cold Storage, treasurer; Shawn Welch, Sara Lee Food & Beverage, vice chairman-frozen; and Scott Haws, Land O’Lakes, vice chairman-fefrigerated.

Elected to the board of directors were: Bob Cronin, Wells’ Dairy, Inc.; David Epps, Sara Lee Food & Beverage; Ken Gipple, Kraft Foods; Jeff Hall, Nestle Prepared Foods; Chris Hooks, Supervalu Inc.; Mike Johnson, Stonyfield Farm, Inc.; Michael O’Keefe, Advantage Sales & Marketing; Joe Oliveri, Dannon Company; Bobby Ray, Allens, Inc.; Angela Rosenquist, Boboli International, LLC; Brent Sherwin, Schwan’s Consumer Brands; Amy Skalny, Pinnacle Foods Group; Yvonne Turnbough, Pepperidge Farm; and Jim Walsh, H.P.Hood, LLC.

Elected for a second term on the board of directors were: Bill Chadwell, Daisy Brand, and Craig Entwistle, Rich Consumer Brands.

NFRA is a non-profit trade association representing all segments of the frozen and refrigerated foods industry. Headquartered in Harrisburg, PA, NFRA is the sponsor of March National Frozen Food Month, June Dairy Month, June/July Ice Cream & Novelties promotion and October Cool Food for Kids educational outreach initiative.  

Our good friend Ron Schwartzman of Acme Paper Products has an interesting item that should be of interest to every restaurant owner who has to make sure to wipe off tables. We’ve all seen some wait staff wipe off tables with a cloth or paper that was used to clean other tables. Not too appetizing to watch. Ron is selling wipes which are pre-moistened to clean down a table and then thrown away. If you run a restaurant where tables are cleaned with a wet cloth, this item is perfect for you. Your customers will rate your restaurant as being more sanitary than those that use a rag from table to table. For more information, contact Ron Schwartzman at Acme Paper for more details of this amazing product. And who knows, maybe you might see an ad for Table Wipes in a future edition of Food World.

Last month we traveled to Boston and while there paid a visit to old food broker friends at Johnson,O’Hare Company (JOH). Johnson, O’Hare was founded in 1955 by the late Harry O’Hare and today his son Chip O’Hare is the chairman and CEO and John Saidnawey is president and COO. The company has grown tremendously over the years and is one of the last of the local independent food brokers left in the United States.

And speaking of JOH, Gary Rosenthal, executive vice president and general manager of the JOH Metro Division was presented with the Harry O’Hare Award, the company’s most prestigious award named after the company’s founder.

This award is given annually to an employee who exemplifies the principles that Harry O’Hare valued and upon which he founded Johnson, O’Hare – diligence, moral values, positive attitude, team spirit and exceptional performance.

The award was presented to Rosenthal by John Saidnawey, president and chief operating officer of Johnson, O’Hare.

Past recipients of the Harry O’Hare Award include Bob Trumbour, Ken Black, Debby Bioneloli, Kathy Ascolillo and Carl Annese.

Fortune Magazine last month released its “100 Best Companies to Work For” list ranking Wegmans Food Markets No. 3 and making the New York-based grocer the highest-ranked retailer on the list. Wegmans has appeared on the Fortune list for 14 consecutive years, every year since the list was first published in 1998.

Also on the list are Whole Foods (No. 24) and Publix Super Markets (No. 67).

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) last month announced a call for entries in the 2011 FMI Store Manager Awards, an annual program recognizing supermarket store managers who generate sales growth, provide great customer service, contributorily attain company goals and are an integral part of the communities they serve. The awards program will take place at Future Connect, the industry leadership education event, May 10-12, 2011 in Dallas, TX.

“Store managers play an essential role in enhancing supermarket business operations. They train and mentor their employees, work hard to provide excellent customer service and are actively involved in their communities,” said Leslie G. Sarasin, FMI president and chief executive officer.

“We are very proud to acknowledge their leadership, customer service and community commitment with the FMI Store Manager Awards.”

Companies are invited to submit stories that demonstrate how a store manager created positive growth and customer satisfaction during the past 12 – 18 months. Entries will be scored based on the overall content and the store manager’s ability to: generate sales growth and positively impact the overall business of the store; go above and beyond the ordinary to provide customer service and community relations; execute innovative in-store programs and special events that improve overall customer service and community relations; demonstrate a balance between people skills and operations skills; and lead or mentor the team members from their store.

Three grand prize winners will each be awarded a $1,000 cash prize and a crystal award. Nine finalists, including the three grand prize winners, will receive two complimentary registrations to Future Connect and three nights of hotel accommodations in Dallas.

For more information contact Meredith Esbeck at 202-220-0728 or [email protected] for more information.

Birthday wishes go out this month to: International Food and Beverage’s (IFB) Frank Rich; Lancaster Foods’ John Gates; DBC Sales’ Kathy Carter; Hughes Sales’ Linda Hughes; Safeway’s Glenn Davis; Food Trade News’ Mike Keba; Advantage Sales and Marketing’s Pat and Nancy McBride; Metromedia’s Harriet Finkelstein, Stuart Sobotnick and Ed Hopkins; Acosta’s Kathy Chandler Poteet; and Master Food Consultant, Mike Wilson.

Anniversary wishes go out to Pastore’s Mike and Delores Pastore on their 62nd and to McCormick’s Joe and Judy Conoscenti on their 36th.

You can reach Dick at [email protected].

We begin the new year on a sad note as we extend our sincere sympathies to Mickey Parsons (Edy’s Ice Cream, retired) on the death of his father, Frank I. Parsons Jr.

Mickey, well known among food people in the Mid-Atlantic, was one of nine children.

His father also had 31 grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren and seven sisters. He was 93.

Last month we reported on the death of John Kluge who passed away at age 95. He was remembered on December 14 at the Music Box Theater in New York where more than 500 people gathered to pay a final farewell. John, as he always wanted to be called – not Mr. Kluge -, was a “… successful businessman who parlayed the money he earned from a Frito’s franchise into a multi billion-dollar communications company, Metromedia. This conglomerate grew to include 7 television stations, 14 radio stations, outdoor advertising, the Harlem Globetrotters, the Ice Capades, radio paging, mobile telephones and a food brokerage firm in Baltimore-Washington, Kluge Finkelstein & Company, which he and David Finkelstein formed in 1956.

“His philanthropy was prodigious. The beneficiaries of his gifts included Columbia University ($100 million pre-death and $400 million posthumously) and the University of Virginia, $63 million.”

 “Mr. Kluge also contributed to the restoration of Ellis Island and in 2000 gave $73 million to the Library of Congress, which established the Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanities.”

(The statements in quotation marks above are from the Congressional Record of the 111th Congress, second session.)

At the memorial service, Stuart Subotnick, a partner in Metromedia, served as the master of ceremonies. David Finkelstein, Kluge’s partner in Kluge, Finkelstein & Company, delivered a very entertaining talk that portrayed John Kluge as he really was, a caring, witty, down-to-earth person.

Another presenter at the ceremony was singer Tony Bennett, who was a personal friend of Kluge’s.

Stuart Subotnick hosted us to a lovely dinner at a very charming and excellent Italian Restaurant – Bravo Gianni.

Located at 230 East 63 Street, this restaurant is one of the finest in the city, if not the finest Italian restaurant, in my humble opinion. And Bravo Gianni himself is there to meet and greet you and to make sure everything is to your liking. If you’re in New York City and you are looking for a nice – very nice – Italian restaurant, Bravo Gianni is the place to visit.

 While enjoying the food and drink at Bravo Gianni’s we spotted a couple of familiar faces at another table, Don Walker and Tom LaRochelle, both with Lactalis Deli, Inc. Don is the Mid-Atlantic manager and Tom is the national sales manager for Lactalis. Tom’s dad, also Tom LaRochelle, is a long time food man having worked as a broker in New England and now with Tootsie-Roll. If food people eat at Bravo Gianni’s, it must be good.

The Department of Food Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University will host the fifth annual Food Industry Summit on Thursday, March 10, 2011 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This year’s summit entitled “Sales and Profit growth through Direct Marketing, Social Media, and E-Commerce” will take place at Saint Joseph’s University Haub School of Business, Philadelphia, PA. The summit is a venue for food industry CEOs, presidents and c executives to present their insights on major issues and trends facing our business. This event is attended by food industry executives and decision makers from around the country, offering both an excellent informational and networking opportunity.

The 2011 Food Industry Summit is a full-day event that will feature several dynamic and influential executives from top companies in the industry, including: Carl Schlicker, COO, Ahold USA; Dan Sanders, president, Acme Markets; Rick Brindle, customer VP for e-sales and industry affairs, Kraft Foods; Mike Salzberg, president, Campbell Sales Company; and Mike Webster, senior VP and general manager, NCR Retail Group.

For more information please visit: http://foodindustrysummit.sju.edu.

And speaking of St Joseph’s University, U.S. News and World Report recognized the university’s marketing undergraduate programs, including food marketing, among the best 25 specialty programs in the United States for 2011.

Last month we also read about the death of baseball Hall of Famer Bob Feller. Bob Feller, as baseball fans know, was one terrific pitcher, especially known for his fastball.

Both Jeff Metzger and I knew Bob. We met him at a frozen food event in Buffalo back in the early 70’s while we were still with The Griffin Report. Bob was a spokesperson for a frozen food company – the name I can’t remember -which was represented by Jack Bradigan, a Buffalo based food broker and a character in his own right. After the event we all – Jack Bradigan, Bob Feller, Jeff and I – headed for the nearest bar. Bob entertained us with baseball stories and had us all rolling in the aisles with laughter. It was an evening that we will never forget.

United States Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has named Nestle Purina a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The pet food manufacturer is one of seven companies to receive the 2010 award, and the first CPG company ever to achieve the distinction.

Named after the 26th secretary of commerce, the award was established in 1987 to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. organizations. Winners are recognized for excellence in the areas of leadership; customer and market focus; strategic planning; process management; measurement; analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; and results.

Among recipients this year was Medrad of Warrendale, PA and Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, MD.

We traveled last month to beautiful Fairfax, Virginia to attend the wedding of Christopher Chadwick to Amanda Fitzgerald.

Christopher is the son of Lancaster Foods’ Jerry and Ligia Chadwick and the grandson of the late Gerald Chadwick who had been the head guy for the old Knott, Sheehan Food Brokerage Company of New England, the VP of sales for Alpo Pet Foods and a senior management member of the Bud Mayer Company of Florida.

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) recently announced a call for entries in the 2011 FMI Store Manager Awards, an annual program recognizing supermarket store managers who generate sales growth, provide great customer service, contribute to attaining company goals and are an integral part of the communities they serve.

Only store managers from FMI member companies who have been at the same place of business for at least one year are eligible.

FMI’s retail membership is composed of large multi-store chains, regional firms and independent supermarkets. Its international membership includes 200 companies from more than 50 countries.

For more information, contact FMI at 202-452-8444.

Happy Birthday wishes go out this month to Randy Holland, Pro-Star/Star Sales & Marketing; Carl Jablonski, formerly of Acme and Shaws Supermarkets; Jim Therian, Masiello Group Realty; and Kathleen Kelly, sister of Food World and Food Trade News editor Terri Maloney.

Anniversary wishes go out this to: Policy Solutions Barry and Olga Scher, their 8th; and to Food World’s Lou and Mimi Rosenthal, their 64th!

From all of us at Best-Met Publishing—Food World, Food Trade News and the Mid–Atlantic Grocery Industry Directory—may you and yours enjoy a very healthy, happy and prosperous 2011 and remember to keep reading Food World and Food Trade News and keep buying those ads!

Our congratulations to six new inductees into the Maryland Food Industry’s Hall of Fame. More than 200 people were in attendance to witness the event at Martin’s West last month. The 2010 inductees are: Don Bennett (Richfood) posthumously; Anthony D’Anna, (Mars Super Markets); Paul Diamond (Food-A-Rama) posthumously; Robert Lawless, McCormick & Company; Tom Saquella, Maryland Retailers Association; and Roddy Smith (Schmidt Baking Company), posthumously.

With the induction of the six , the Hall of Fame membership stands at 71. The Maryland Food Dealers Council of the Maryland Retailers Association began the Hall of Fame in 2003. Rob Santoni Jr., chairman of the Food Dealers Council, says the 2010 class underscores the purpose of the Hall of Fame “to honor those ho made a significant contribution to the food industry in Maryland.” Santoni and Food World’s Jeff Metzger emceed the event.

Along with the Hall of Fame inductees, the annual Best-Met Publishing Pete Manos award was presented to Danny Wegman, chairman and CEO of Wegmans Food Markets Inc. 

The Maryland Food Dealers also announced two new first time members to its board: Alex Barron (Wal-Mart) and Chip Farris (Target). Elected to serve another term were Walt Clocker (Angel’s Food Market), Elaine Ezell (AAA Antiques Mall), Joe Gwiazdowski (Boscov’s) and Erik Woehrmann (Walgreens).

If you’ve never attended this event, you should plan to do so next year as it brings together many past members of the food industry and current members of the industry.

Congratulations to Katie Kanner, daughter of Rosemary and Leon Kanner (A.W.Sisk), on recently being named Girl Athlete of the Week by the Baltimore Sun. Katie, who is a senior at Marriotts Ridge High School in Marriottsville, MD, played a leading role in a win over River Hill School that clinched the program’s first Howard County Championship. Kanner, a three-year starter and four-year varsity player, led the team in scoring during the regular season with 10 goals and five assists.

We were honored to have been invited last month to the 2010 Visionary Awards Dinner benefiting The Foundation Fighting Blindness. Headquartered in Columbia, MD and started in Baltimore in 1971, the Foundation had its beginnings in the home of David and Harriet Finkelstein (Kluge, Finkelstein & Co.), who brought together a group of people to help raise money for research for retinitis pigmentosa. Very little was known at the time about this dreaded disease. Today, The Foundation Fighting Blindness is leading the research to identify preventions, treatments and cures for people affected by retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, Usher Syndrome and the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases as well as fund raising efforts to support critical research protocols and broad public education.

The honorees this year were: David Cordish, chairman of The Cordish Companies, one of the largest and oldest privately held development companies in the United States. Headquartered in Baltimore, the company is widely recognized as a national leader in entertainment development and the operation of entertainment, live performance, dining, and gaming venues. The company owns and manages more than 40 million square feel of commercial, hotel and residential development.

Also honored were The Baltimore Ravens great Ray Lewis, and his mother Sunseria “Buffy” Smith. Lewis is recognized as one of the NFL’s most dominant defensive players and continues to establish his legacy as one of the greatest players in NFL history.

His mother serves as vice president of The Ray Lewis Foundation and provides constant support for all of Ray’s charitable efforts, focusing on the needy in Baltimore. She, almost single-handedly, organizes and oversees the programs that support children in schools, feeds many families over the Thanksgiving holiday, and brightens Christmas for children who reside in some of the poorest areas in the city.

Tom Matte, former Baltimore Colt, emceed the event .

The Wal-mart Foundations is helping the Maryland Food Bank and Food Banks across the nation in raising awareness of the hunger issue. As part of their $2 billion commitment over five years through its “Fighting Hunger together” campaign, Wal-mart announced an initiative that will support local hunger relief efforts and may benefit the Maryland Food Bank. Here’s how it works. A campaign found on Facebook enables the public to participate in deciding where Wal-mart will donate $1.5 million to hunger relief efforts in the community. Facebook users will be given the opportunity to vote for a community of their choice facing food hardship. The community receiving the most votes receives $1 million to fight hunger. Five additional communities will each receive $100,000.

On October 28, 2010 the FDA gathered a group of inspectors from around the country and brought them to Kreider Farms in Manheim, PA for a training session.  These new FDA inspectors were being trained to inspect egg production facilities for food safety in the wake of the recent salmonella outbreak and subsequent egg recall.  Kreider Farms and its staff were asked to help train the FDA inspectors. “This was a huge honor for our company. It speaks well of the Kreider employees, facilities and reputation in the egg industry, said Dave Andrews, VP of sales and marketing. Kreider Farms was asked to keep this training session quiet until after the FDA inspectors left to avoid media attention during their visit. 

If you haven’t registered yet for the United Fresh 2011 convention to be held in New Orleans May 2-5, 2011 now is the time to do it. This is one of those conventions where it’s easy to connect with your customers. Whether it’s in United’s Business Suites, Food Safety and Traceability Demo Centers, FreshTech or Fresh Marketplace, you’re sure to connect with industry leaders offering value to your company.

Archie Manning, the renowned patriarch of an NFL family dynasty, and James Carville, the outspoken and insightful “ragin Cajun” of American politics, will highlight the meeting and both speakers personify the community spirit, determination and winning attitude that the produce industry and New Orleans share.

Weis Markets announced its month long “Fight Hunger” food drive totaled $356,000 in customer product and monetary donations and $200,000 in corporate donations, which are being made to 10 regional food banks.

“We are grateful to our customers and associates for their generosity. Their donations will help hundreds of emergency food providers meet increased demand during difficult times,” said Dave Hepfinger, Weis Markets president and CEO. “We have complemented our customer’s generosity with our own contribution of $200,000.”

The Fight Hunger food drive ran during Hunger Action Month in September.  In addition to product donations, customer monetary donations were distributed to 148 local emergency food providers serving communities near the company’s stores.

Weis Markets $200,000 corporate donation benefited Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast, PA; The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank (Harrisburg); The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank ( Williamsport); The Maryland Food Bank; The Commission on Economic Opportunity/The Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton); Greater Berks Food Bank (Reading); Food Bank of the Southern Tier (Elmira); Northwest Community Action Program NORWESCAP Food Bank (Phillipsburg, NJ); Mountaineer Food Bank (West Virginia) and Broome County Council of Churches/SHOW (Binghamton).

Safeway, Inc., on of the nation’s largest supporters of cancer research and treatment raised $16.1 million in October to combat breast cancer, the most common form of cancer for women. Funds donated at checkout by Safeway customers throughout North America support three areas of focus: research, treatment and early detection.

“We are grateful and humbled by the extraordinary outpouring of support for a cause that impacts so many women and families,” said Steve Neibergall, Safeway’s eastern division president. “Even in a difficult economic climate, our customers recognize the importance of continuing the search for more effective treatments and an ultimate cure for breast cancer.”

During the last decade Safeway and its 1,700-plus stores across the country—including Vons, Pavilions, Dominick’s, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Genuardi’s, Carrs and Pak ‘N Save—have raised and donated more than $94 million during the annual October Breast Cancer Awareness campaign (the contribution from Safeway’s eastern division including its Genuardi’s stores was not available at press time).

Congratulations to Mark Baum, the managing partner of MARCAT Group LLC, an independent consulting firm specializing in business, market, and customer development, was recently named to the KeyImpact board of directors. Baum is the fifth outside member of KeyImpact’s doard.

Before his current position with MARCAT Group, Baum was partner and managing director of the executive vice president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). Previously, he was the president and CEO of the Association of Sales & Marketing Companies (ASMC), now a subsidiary of GMA. Baum joined GMA in 2001 after leading the merger with ASMC.

KeyImpact Sales & Systems, Inc. was formed in 2002 and focused on the Baltimore/Washington, Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey markets. KeyImpact has expanded its total footprint to include 32 sales agencies serving customers in 31 states with 39 different offices.

While we have no birthdays to mention this month, we have to correct one from October. We received a very nice note from former Giant/Landover’s retired public relations vice president, now a principal in Policy Solution, Barry Scher informing us that we had him celebrating a birthday in October. Barry informed us that while he appreciates the mention, he doesn’t want to rush the date. He turned a very young 68 in November.

Anniversary wishes go out to Russ and Joan Reynolds, Supervalu, their 36th; Michael and Juli Finkelstein, Associated Services, their 27th; Todd and Amy Sibel, Hook-Me-Up Marketing, their 17th; Jerry and Ligia Chadwick, Guest Services, their 334d; Mike and Monica Cavanaugh, Weider Sports and Nutrition, their 9th; Tony and Susan Schiano, Giant/Carlisle (retired) their 32nd; Peter and Maisie Wall, friends of Food World, their 47th; and Dave and Fran McElroy, Food World’s New England correspondent, their 60th; and to our own Lou Rosenthal and his lovely wife, Mimi, we congratulate them on 64 wonderful years of marriage.

All of us at Best-Met Publishing thank our readers and advertisers for making 2010 an exciting and interesting year and for letting us be a part of this wonderful and crazy business. You are all terrific and very generous people. A very happy, healthy and joyous holiday season to each and everyone of you.