The Produce for Better Health Foundation has named its annual award recipients in honor of those who have gone above and beyond to promote fruit and vegetable consumption.
To be considered for these accolades, individuals, businesses — including those within the produce industry as well as those in retail and foodservice — and public health organizations must demonstrate support for the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters brand platform and engage in community outreach with the collective goal to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables.
The outstanding efforts of these organizations and individuals will be acknowledged formally at an awards luncheon on April 23 during PBH’s Consumer Connection conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, April 22-25.
“The more than 70 award recipients are strong advocates and partners with PBH, focused on our common mission to inspire consumers to eat more fruits and vegetables every single day,” says Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, president and CEO of PBH. “PBH is thrilled to be aligned with such passionate people at the forefront of our industry and with those who are interacting directly with consumers daily to help them achieve happier, healthier lives by eating more fruits and veggies.”
“No one person or organization can change Americans’ collective fruit and vegetable consumption. Partnership and collaboration are key to seeing the needle move. It is important to recognize supporters like these who have a played a critical role in helping to change consumers’ fruit and vegetable consumption behaviors,” says Reinhardt Kapsak. “As we begin our next phase in PBH’s strategic transformation, including a new behavior-based consumer call-to-action, PBH will continue to operate with a collaborative spirit and a desire to partner with a wide variety of stakeholders to increase produce consumption.”
These companies have demonstrated their dedication to helping consumers eat more fruits and veggies by leveraging the More Matters brand in their collective communication platforms, as well as supporting PBH through their own channels.
PBH is also delighted to announce the 2018 Excellence Award Honorees (listed below). These Honorees have demonstrated the greatest amount of support in terms of breadth and depth for PBH throughout 2018 and have played an integral role in PBH’s new brand transformation, which will also be launched at The Consumer Connection.
Industry Role Models:
American Frozen Food Institute
Barsotti Family Juice Company
Bayer
Black Gold Farms
Blue Book Services, Inc.
California Avocado Commission
California Strawberry Commission
Campbell Soup Company
Can Manufacturers Institute
Canned Food Alliance
Chelan Fresh Marketing
Del Monte Foods, Inc.
Dole Food Company
Dole Packaged Foods, LLC
Domex Superfresh Growers
Duda Farm Fresh Foods
Juice Products Association
Mariani Packing Company, Inc.
McEntire Produce, Inc.
Monterey Mushrooms Inc
Naturipe Farms, LLC
Okanagan Specialty Fruits
Pacific Coast Producers
Potatoes USA
Produce Business Magazine
Produce Marketing Association
Robinson Fresh
Ruiz Sales, Inc.
Sage Fruit Company
Seneca Foods Corporation
Southern Specialties
Stemilt Growers LL
Subway
Sun-Maid Growers of California
Sysco/FreshPoint
The Oppenheimer Group
The Packer
The Produce News
USA Pears from Pear Bureau Northwest
Ventura Foods
Wawona Frozen Foods
Wonderful Citrus
Excellence Awardees:
Chris Christian, California Strawberry Commission
Rich Dachman, Sysco/FreshPoint
Charlie Eagle, Southern Specialties
Matt Middleton, Ventura Foods
Jason Osborn, Wonderful Citrus
Roger Pepperl, Stemilt Growers LLC
Garland Perkins, The Oppenheimer Group
Richard Ruiz, Ruiz Sales, Inc.
Carolyn Takata, Silgan Containers
Trish Zecca, Campbell Soup Company
In addition to the ability to use the widely recognized Fruits & Veggies—More Matters® logo on products and promotions, PBH provides retailers and dietitians with resources, including educational materials and POS such as ad slicks and signs for use in store.
PBH is also pleased to announce the 2018 Supermarket Dietitians of the Year. The Supermarket Dietitian of the Year award recognizes the top supermarket registered dietitians and/or health and wellness staff for their support of Fruits & Veggies—More Matters® and the collective goal of increasing the sale and consumption of fruit and vegetables.
Retail Role Models:
Coborn’s
K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc.
Redner’s Markets
Schnuck Markets, Inc.
Skogen’s Festival Foods
SpartanNash
Wakefern Food Corporation
Weis Markets, Inc.
Supermarket Dietitians of the Year:
Julianne Gallo, Inserra Supermarkets
Mary Lavanway, Hannaford Supermarkets
Emily Parent, Coborn’s
Bridget Wojciak, The Kroger Co.
Public Health Role Models:
This year PBH is recognizing seven organizations from the Public Health sector who have demonstrated a unique approach to increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables every single day. They must support the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters brand and our overall mission of increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables by educating their employees and incorporating our message in their materials or community outreach.
Arizona Department of Health Services
City of Albuquerque
Elaine Gordon, Eating by Elaine, LLC
Marion County Public Health Department
Meramec Elementary School Garden Club
Presbyterian Healthcare Services
Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania
