Store Brands names Sam’s Club’s Holt and Lidl as top ‘2017 Best Of…Awards’ honorees

Store Brands magazine, published by EnsembleIQ, has named Chandra Holt of Sam’s Club as its Store Brands Retail Executive of the Year and retailer Lidl as the recipient of the Store Brands Top Innovation Award.

Holt and Lidl are among 16 winners of the “2017 Store Brands Best Of…Awards,” which recognize and showcase retailers for their private brand innovation and leadership.

This year’s honorees are:

Store Brands Retail Executive of the Year
Chandra Holt —  As vice president of private brands, Holt transformed Sam’s Club’s Member’s Mark line.

Store Brands Top Innovation Award
Lidl — For its Preferred Selection private brand line of food and beverage products.

Best New Food Product or Line
Trader Joe’s — For its Cauliflower Pizza Crust.

Best New Organic Food Product or Line
ShopRite/Wakefern Food Corp. — For their Wholesome Pantry Organic line.

Best New Free-From Food or Line
The Kroger Co. — For its Simple Truth Low Cow Lite Ice Cream.

Best New Fresh and Fresh-Prepared Food
H-E-B — For its True Texas BBQ.

Best New Beverage Product or Line
Target — For its Simply Balanced Organic-Flavored Herbal Tea.

Best New Non-Food Product or Line
Walgreens — For its Botanics skin care and cosmetics line.

Best Store Brand Marketing Campaign
Stop & Shop (Ahold Delhaize) — For its limited-time originals program.

Best Store Brand Shopper Marketing Campaign
Winn-Dixie — For its Kid Connoisseur Contest.

Best Store Brand Merchandising Idea
Hy-Vee — For its Misfits produce program.

Best Use of Digital or Social Media to Promote Store Brands
Aldi — For its Hello Healthy initiative.

Best New Store Brand Packaging Innovation|
Tops Friendly Markets — For its compostable single-serve coffee pods.

Leadership in Sustainability/Food and Beverage
The Kroger Co. — For its Sustainability Lives Here program.

Leadership in Sustainability – Non-Food
Roche Bros. Supermarkets — For selling its five-millionth Roche Bros.-branded ECOgrade bag, a non-plastic grocery bag made from organic material and minerals.

Leadership in Social Responsibility
Wegmans — For its continuous efforts to feed the hungry, reduce food waste and recycle. This spring, Wegmans said it had reduced waste at a test store by 80 percent and had planned to introduce its waste-reduction program to nine more locations by year’s end.

The winners of the “2017 Store Brands Best Of…Awards” were selected by the Store Brands editorial staff, which based selections on a number of criteria and feedback from industry professionals.

“These are the ‘best of the best’,” said Lawrence Aylward, editor-in-chief of Store Brands. “What they are doing in terms of products and services is a reflection of the major trends happening in private brands. The winners clearly have distinguished themselves.”

“All of us at Store Brands congratulate the honorees,” added Kevin Francella, brand director of Store Brands. “With so much positive activity taking place in the industry, I know our editors had a challenging task singling out these retailers and executives for ‘Best Of…’ status. All of the honorees are certainly deserving of the ‘best of the best’ recognition.”

The recipients of the “2017 Store Brands Best Of…Awards” will receive their awards and public recognition on Monday, Nov. 13, at a special reception during the Private Label Manufacturer Association’s Private Label Trade Show in Rosemont, Ill. They also will be profiled in the November 2017 issue of Store Brands.