The NGA Foundation student case study competition brings students from across the country to the NGA Show where they present solutions to an issue currently impacting the independent grocery industry.
The program allows student teams to interact with an independent grocer and ground their education with real-life experience. Participants move through three rounds of judging from food industry professionals. The winners and their schools receive a cash prize.
Each year, an independent retailer is selected as the subject of the competition, providing a budget and relevant details to aid in students’ presentation.
Any four-year institution, university, academic institution, or affiliate organization which currently provides teaching or research focused on the food industry may compile a team for competition. School teams may have no more than four undergraduate students present the solution at the competition. Other students may assist with the research or development phases.
Schools will submit their intent to compete in January prior to the competition. Schools must also submit a current list of program faculty and board members. This will be used to determine potential conflict of interest when filling the judge rosters.
NGAF considers funding, room availability, and staff capacity when admitting school teams into the competition schedule.
Launch Webinar - Friday, Oct. 10, 2025 - 12:30pm EST/11:30am CST/9:30am PST
School Intent to Compete form Due - Dec. 1, 2025
Final Slide Decks & executive summary due - Jan. 20, 2026
Competition schedule shared - Jan. 13, 2026
Competition at the NGA Show - Feb. 2-3, 2026
NEW!
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2026 Case Study Topic
Keeping Shelves Relevant and Customers Inspired
Converting Direct-to-Consumer Trends into In-Store Activations
Featured Retail Partner
Case Study Background:
Nugget Markets is a trendsetting grocer with 16 locations across Northern California, proud to offer an extensive selection of top-quality perishables, chef-prepared foods, organics/specialty grocery items and conventional goods all in a beautiful European marketplace setting. From organic to vegan and more, they have products fit for every lifestyle, along with a wide variety of fresh produce, premium proteins and homemade foods from their talented chefs and bakers.
Past Case Study Topics
Year | Topic | Winning Team |
| 2025 | A Path to Sustainable Success | Arizona State University |
| 2024 | Maintaining a Competitive Edge | Cornell University |
| 2023 | Employee Recruitment & Retention | Auburn |
| 2022 | Navigating Omnichannel Sales for Today and in the Future | Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo |
| 2021 | Remaining Competitive under Covid-19 Economic & Supply Chain Challenges | Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo |
| 2020 | Communicating SNAP Point of Sale Incentives | Western Michigan University |
| 2019 | Hiring and retaining millennials or multicultural associates | Saint Joe’s University |
| 2018 | Inspiring healthy living among employees and shoppers | Saint Joe’s University |
| 2017 | How to attract millennial consumers | Saint Joe’s University & Western Michigan University |
| 2016 | What is a successful e-commerce model for a 4-store independent? | Saint Joe’s University |
| 2015 | What will be the next generation of retail circulars? | Western Michigan University |
| 2014 | Address the challenges and opportunities “Local” offers independent grocers | Arizona State University |
| 2013 | Growing Market Share in a Mature Industry and Increasingly Competitive Environment | Saint Joe’s University |
Thank you to some of our previous Retail Partners
