For release: October 21, 2003

FOODLAND ONTARIO RETAILER AWARDS

The Foodland Ontario Retailer Awards program recognizes grocery retailers for their innovative promotion of Ontario-grown fruits and vegetables. Each year, approximately 1,250 stores across the province are involved in the promotion of Ontario produce. Stores submit photographs of their promotions and displays to qualify for the awards.

There are four types of awards. The Platinum Year Round Support Award recognizes merchandising excellence with Ontario grown commodities through three seasons: spring, summer and winter. The Gold Category Award distinguishes excellence at both chain and independent stores in three specific categories: seasonal, creative and cross-merchandised. The Silver Award of Merit honours excellence in promoting Ontario produce in a display. The Foodland Ontario Award of Excellence is presented to the top-scoring Ontario retailers, in each store size category, that have won the Platinum Award for consistent year round merchandising achievement for two years in a row.

Retailers partner with Foodland Ontario because it is a successful marketing program that offers them a competitive edge. Based on research findings, there is a high degree of consumer trust in Ontario-grown produce. The Foodland Ontario symbol has tremendous recognition. Consumers look for and ask for the Foodland Ontario logo by name. Over 25 years, consumers have identified the stylized trillium with home grown freshness and quality.

The Ontario Asparagus Growers' Marketing Board, the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association, the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers' Association, the Ontario Tender Fruit Producers' Marketing Board, the Ontario Apple Marketers' Association as well as the Canadian Mushroom Growers association co-sponsor the awards program, along with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

This year's promotional activities included: a gigantic display of mushrooms that took up a corner of a produce department; a produce manager who dressed up as a strawberry and painted her face red to enhance the display; and the creation of a massive peach basket filled with baskets of tender fruit. More than 400 entries and 2,500 photos were submitted this year.

Contact:
Jim James
Foodland Ontario
(519) 826-3946

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