South Australia and NSW IGA Awards of Excellence awards were held on April 8 and 10.
Keenly contested between the stores, the awards are a chance to formally recognise and celebrate the achievements of independent retailers.
SA stores Mt Barker IGA Fresh and Frewville Foodland IGA were recognised after taking out the key awards for IGA Store of the Year and Foodland IGA Store of the Year, respectively, and were presented their awards by the Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, Christopher Pyne.
Metcash Food and Grocery South Australian Merchandise and Marketing Manager Justin Walls said Metcash acknowledged the hard work and commitment of the SA stores.
“Congratulations to Mt Barker IGA Fresh and Frewville Foodland IGA for being recognised as leaders in independent retailing,” he said. “These stores and their teams represent retail excellence for going above and beyond to demonstrate excellence in teamwork, customer service and quality in their respective store offerings.”
NSW stores IGA Ainslie, Ashcroft’s SUPA IGA Summer Centre and IGA X-press Circular Quay Plus Liquor were recognised after taking out the key awards for IGA Store of the Year, SUPA IGA Store of the Year and IGA X-press Store of the Year, respectively.
Metcash Food and Grocery NSW General Manager Mark Garwood said the winners represent retail excellence, “going above and beyond to demonstrate excellence in teamwork, customer service and quality in their respective store offerings”.
SA winners
- Frewville Foodland IGA: Foodland IGA Delicatessen Department of the Year Award, Foodland IGA Bakery Department of the Year Award and Foodland IGA Fresh Produce Department of the Year Award.
- Victor Harbor IGA Fresh: IGA Delicatessen Department of the Year Award and IGA Bakery Department of the Year Award.
- Mt Barker IGA Fresh: IGA Fresh Produce Department of the Year Award and IGA Grocery & General Merchandise Department of the Year Award.
- Mannum Green IGA Fresh: IGA Meat Department of the Year Award and IGA Dairy/Freezer Department of the Year Award.
- Brighton Foodland IGA: Foodland IGA Meat Department of the Year Award.
- Wallaroo Foodland IGA: Foodland IGA Grocery & General Merchandise Department of the Year Award.
- Port Adelaide Foodland IGA: Foodland IGA Dairy/Freezer Department of the Year Award.
- Minlaton IGA Fresh: IGA Service Award of the Year.
- Naracoorte Foodland IGA: Foodland IGA Retail Transformation & Innovation Award.
- Richard Hidden from Frewville Foodland IGA and Pasadena Foodland IGA: IGA Team Member/Rising Star Award.
NSW winners
- Ashcroft’s SUPA IGA Summer Centre: SUPA IGA Delicatessen Department of the Year Award, SUPA IGA Bakery Department of the Year Award, SUPA IGA Grocery & General Merchandise Department of the Year Award and IGA Community Award.
- IGA Ainslie: IGA Bakery Department of the Year Award, IGA Delicatessen Department of the Year Award and IGA Meat Department of the Year Award.
- Donges SUPA IGA Plus Liquor Young: SUPA IGA Meat Department of the Year Award.
- SUPA IGA Blaxland: SUPA IGA Fresh Produce Department of the Year Award.
- Romeo’s IGA Oxford Street: IGA Fresh Produce Department of the Year Award.
- IGA Thirroul: IGA Grocery & General Merchandise Department of the Year Award.
- SUPA IGA Pyrmont: SUPA IGA Dairy/Freezer Department of the Year Award.
- St Georges Basin IGA Plus Liquor: IGA Dairy/Freezer Department of the Year Award.
- IGA Bellingen: Service Award of the Year.
- IGA Toongabbie: Retail Transformation & Innovation Award.
- Kaela Sweeny from SUPA IGA Menai: Team Member/Rising Star.
The state winners now go on to compete against IGA stores across the country in the IGA National Awards to be announced in July 2016 in Queensland.