Las Vegas, NV-  Attendees at the 2013 NGA Show felt a buzz of excitement Monday evening at the announcement of the 2013 Creative Choice Contest winners.  The contest, made possible through partnership with the Kellogg Company and Unilever,honors the best advertising and merchandising in the grocery industry.  All entries were judged by a panel of industry experts, and winners were selected based on creativity, clarity and effectiveness of the entry.  The pinnacle awards of the contest, "Best of Show - Advertising" and "Best of Show - Merchandising" were announced tonight during the Creative Choice Awards Reception, sponsored by the Kellog Company, UnileverAnheuser-Busch, InBev.

Taking home the "Best of Show - Advertising" award was Mollie Stone's Markets of Mill Valley, CA, submitted by DW Green Company. With their "Shop Local" ad, they sought to thank customers for shopping at Mollie Stone's and emphasize their role as the neighborhood food store. Mollie Stone's ran the ROP ad in several publications in June 2012.  

The co-recipients of the 'Best of Show - Merchandising" award were Harmons 

Grocery of West Valley, UT and The Fresh Grocer of Drexel Hill, PA.

Harmons, to promote their 16^th location opening, created the "Harmons City Creek Grand Opening" campaign including outdoor ads, newspaper ads, a magazine,direct mail postcards, door hangers, and a "Shopping is Easy at Harmons" flyer. Harmons received strong media coverage due to the urban location and the new features offered in the store, including a cooking school, seafood steamer, salt display, sushi, cheese counter and freestyle soda machine.

The Fresh Grocer unveiled a new, health-focused supermarket field trip program to educate grade school students on healthy eating. To promote this interactive supermarket experience, their "Fresh Finds Field Trips at the Fresh Grocer" campaign showcased the program as part of their ongoing initiative to decrease childhood obesity in their communities.

Winning entries in a number of categories are on display in the Hall of Fame at the NGA Show, and a full list of winners can be found at www.thengashow.com/who-we-are/nga-special-programs/creative-choice-awards.

Also announced at tonight's reception were the winners of the annual Food Industry University Coalition Student Case Competition. St. Joseph's University won first place, with participants Mark Lang (faculty advisor), Lauren DeLeon, Norene Drici, Edward Fagan, Mary Sisti, and Devin Tanney taking home a combined $8,000. Runner-up California State University - Fresno received $2,000. Prizes were made possible by the generous support of The Asparagus Club, a long-time funder of the contest and of scholarships for college students pursuing an education leading to a career in the grocery industry.    

The competition, which seeks to further the professional development of students from participating university food and retail programs, provided student teams with the opportunity to creatively address a real-world issue currently impacting the industry. Teams were tasked with successfully addressing this year's case study question from Chief Super Market, Inc. (Defiance, OH), a 12-store independent grocer seeking to "delight customers with great food and experiences." The students were challenged to use their imaginations to determine what the company should do to fulfill that mission and grow market share. The competition was just one of a number of avenues for university students to get involved at the NGA Show through professional development and networking opportunities.

For photos of today's events, visit photographer Mike Gatty's flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/76352348@N04/collections/72157632604546660/

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