Student team takes top honors at 2022 NGA Show in Las Vegas 

Las Vegas, NV – The National Grocers Association (NGA) has announced California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo as the winner of the 2022 Student Case Study Competition. 

The annual competition featured teams competing in person at the 2022 NGA Show, held this week at the Caesars Forum Convention Center in Las Vegas, with the final round held Tuesday afternoon. Last year’s competition, in which a team from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also emerged victorious, was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The excitement generated by the students’ innovative practical solutions for today’s challenges bodes well for the future of the grocery industry,” said Maggie White, senior director of the NGA Foundation. “We congratulate the Cal Poly team along with the other worthy contenders. Their talent demonstrates the great potential of our industry’s next generation of leadership.” 

Nine schools competed by delivering presentations on how grocery retailers can deliver a seamless omnichannel strategy at a time when online shopping for pickup and delivery, driven by the pandemic, has surged ahead of pre-COVID growth projections. The case study subject was Woodman’s Food Markets, which operates 19 stores from northern Wisconsin to the greater Chicago area.   

“We thank all the participating schools and look forward to hosting this important Foundation program for years to come,” said Greg Ferrara, NGA president and CEO. “The independent grocery industry is fortunate to be supported so well by the academic community and can look forward to a bright new generation of leaders.” 

About the Student Case Study Competition 

The NGA Foundation Student Case Study Competition strives to further the professional development of collegiate students pursuing degrees in food and retail programs and provides student teams the opportunity to creatively address a real-world issue currently impacting the industry. The competition, hosted by the NGA Foundation and generously funded by the Asparagus Club, awards up to $4,000 each to the winning team of students and their university. 

Each year, the NGA Foundation selects an independent retailer and a pressing industry issue to use as a subject for the Student Case Study Competition.  After months of research student teams from the NGA Foundation’s Food Industry University Coalition present their findings at The NGA Show to a panel of judges, the independent retailer featured as the subject of the competition, and NGA Show attendees. 

About NGA Foundation 

The NGA Foundation is the 501(c)3 nonprofit arm of the National Grocers Association. The Foundation provides independent retailers with tools to develop more effective recruiting programs, enhance retention efforts and bolster professional leadership development opportunities for employers. For more information, visit www.ngafoundation.org.  

About NGA 

NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale community grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. An independent retailer is a privately owned or controlled food retail company operating a variety of formats. The independent grocery sector is accountable for about 1.2 percent of the nation’s overall economy and is responsible for generating more than $250 billion in sales, 1.1 million jobs, $39 billion in wages and $36 billion in taxes. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers located in every congressional district across the country, as well as state grocers’ associations, manufacturers and service suppliers. For more information about NGA, visit www.nationalgrocers.org.