Progressive Grocer Unveils 2011 Category Captains

Progressive Grocer is proud to present the winners of its 2011 Category Captains awards program, which salutes 89 of the country's leading manufacturers that have excelled in their category management work with supermarket retailers in the past 12 months.

Now in its 15th year, PG’s annual Category Captains awards honor the most innovative suppliers in the world of category management. This year's distinguished list includes 71 Category Captains and 18 Category Advisors, and encompasses companies representing packaged foods and beverages, frozen foods, nonfoods, health, beauty and wellness, numerous fresh perimeter categories and general merchandise.

"Our 2011 Category Captains set a new standard in the realm of understanding the delicate complexities of consumer shopping patterns and key influencers made across the entire store," said Progressive Grocer's editor-in-chief, Meg Major.

Progressive Grocer's Category Captains competition honors outstanding category management initiatives implemented in the retail grocery market over roughly the past 12 months.

Each of the following award criteria figured into the judging of the entries to qualify them for the award of Category Captain, Category Advisor or neither. Entries were asked to describe details and compelling results of new category management initiatives over the past 12 months.

The factors that figured into judging were:

-- Product innovation
-- Creativity in merchandising, marketing, promotion and advertising
-- Consumer insights
-- Innovative, dynamic category management tools
-- Demonstrated commitment to meeting retail customers' specific needs
-- Effectiveness at differentiating a line or brand within the category
-- Effectiveness at lifting sales for a brand's products in the category
-- Effectiveness at lifting an entire category's sales for a retailer or retailers
-- Fact-based evidence of market-specific or account-specific sales results that support the vendor's claims of excellence

To win the premier Category Captain award, contestants were required to demonstrate excellence in all of the above criteria in their entries. Category Advisors also exhibited excellence, but ranked lower overall than the threshold set for Category Captaincy. Both designations reflect outstanding contributions to the industry at the category level.

For more details on this year’s winners, read complete profiles of the winners here.

Following is a complete list of PG’s 2011 Category Captain winners, arranged alphabetically by category.

GROCERY -- FOOD & BEVERAGES

Alcoholic Beverages-Beer-Category Captain: Anheuser-Busch
Alcoholic Beverages-Wine-Category Captain: E. & J. Gallo Winery
Baby Food and Consumables-Category Captain: Abbott Nutrition; Category Advisor: Nestle Nutrition
Breakfast Foods-Cereal, including Convenient Wholesome Foods (CWF)-Category Captain: General Mills
Breakfast Foods-Ready-to-eat Cereal-Category Captain: The Kellogg Co.
Breakfast Foods-Hot Cereal-Category Advisor: Sturm Foods (McCann's)
Candy-Category Co-captain: The Hershey Co.; Category Co-captain: Mars Chocolate North America
Canned and Packaged Beverages-Coffee-Category Captain: Kraft Foods
Canned and Packaged Beverages-Juice Drinks-Category Captain: Campbell Soup Co.
Canned and Packaged Beverages-Soft Drinks-Category Captain: Coca-Cola
Canned and Packaged Beverages-Warm Beverages-Category Captain: The J.M. Smucker Co.
Canned and Packaged Foods-Baking Ingredients, Spices and Seasonings-Category Captain: General Mills
Canned and Packaged Foods-Desserts-Category Captain: General Mills; Category Advisor: The J.M. Smucker Co.
Canned and Packaged Foods-Dry Packaged Dinners-Category Captain: General Mills
Canned and Packaged Foods-Dry Packaged Potatoes-Category Captain: General Mills
Canned and Packaged Foods-Fruit Spreads and Peanut Butter-Category Advisor: The J.M. Smucker Co.
Canned and Packaged Foods-Nut Spreads-Category Advisor: Ferrero USA
Canned and Packaged Foods-Shelf-stable Meals-Category Captain: ConAgra Foods
Canned and Packaged Foods-Shelf-stable Vegetables-Category Captain: General Mills; Category Advisor: Mario Camacho Foods (Olives)
Canned and Packaged Foods-Soups-Category Co-captain: Campbell Soup Co.; Category Co-captain: General Mills
Commercial Baked Goods-Category Captain: Sara Lee-Category Advisor: Flowers Foods
Cookies-Category Captain: Kraft Foods
Crackers-Category Captain: The Kellogg Co.
Ethnic Foods-Category Captain: General Mills
Gum-Category Captain: Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.
Mixed Salty Savory Snacks-Category Captain: General Mills
Natural and Organic Foods-Category Captain: General Mills Category Advisor: Kashi
Premium Snack Foods-Category Captain: Campbell Soup Co.
Salty Snacks-Category Captain: Hormel Foods
Wholesome Portable Breakfast and Snacks-Category Captain: The Kellogg Co.

FROZEN FOODS

Frozen Baked Goods-Category Captain: General Mills
Frozen Breakfast-Category Captain: General Mills; Category Advisor: The Kellogg Co.
Frozen Entrees-Category Captain: General Mills
Frozen Fruit/Smoothies-Category Captain: General Mills
Frozen Hot Snacks-Category Captain: General Mills
Frozen Meals-Category Captain: Unilever
Frozen Pizza-Category Captain: General Mills
Frozen Vegetables-Category Captain: General Mills
Frozen Veggie Foods-Category Captain: The Kellogg Co.
Ice Cream & Novelties-Category Captain: Unilever

GROCERY- NONFOODS

Pet Care-Category Captain: Nestle Purina Petcare; Category Advisor: Fresh Pet
Soaps and Detergent-Category Captain: Henkel NA

HEALTH, BEAUTY & WELLNESS

Analgesics-Category Captain: Bayer HealthCare
Digestive Health-Category Captain: Novartis Consumer Health
Hair Care-Category Captain: Unilever
Oral Electrolytes-Category Captain: Abbott Nutrition
Sports Nutritionals-Category Captain: Abbott Nutrition
Sun Care-Category Captain: Merck Consumer Care
Vitamins-Category Captain: Pharmavite
Vitamins and Supplements-Category Co-captain: Bayer HealthCare; Category Co-captain: US Nutrition

PERIMETER- BAKERY

Category Captain: Dawn Foods

PERIMETER- DAIRY

Cooking Creme-Category Captain: Kraft Foods
Margarine-Category Captain: Unilever
Refrigerated Baked Goods-Category Captain: General Mills
Specialty Cheese-Category Captain: Murray's Cheese; Category Advisor: Beemster Cheese
Yogurt and Smoothies-Category Captain: General Mills

PERIMETER- DELI

Prepared Foods-Category Captain: Tyson Foods

PERIMETER- VARIABLE/FIXED-WEIGHT MEAT

Fresh Pork Products-Category Captain: Hormel Foods
Deli Meat-Category Captain: Dietz & Watson; Category Advisor: Kraft Foods

VARIABLE/FIXED- WEIGHT PRODUCE

Avocados-Category Captain: Chiquita
Bananas-Category Captain: Del Monte Fresh; Category Advisor: Chiquita
Berries-Category Captain: Driscoll Strawberry Associates
Citrus-Category Captain: Cuties Cooperative
Fresh-cut Fruit-Category Captain: Del Monte Fresh
Packaged Salads-Category Captain: Dole; Category Advisor: Chiquita (Fresh Express)
Pineapple-Category Captain: Del Monte Fresh
Potatoes-Category Captain: United States Potato Board; Category Advisor: Idaho Potato Commission
Tomatoes-Category Captain: NatureSweet; Category Advisor: Mastronardi Produce
Value-added Vegetables-Category Captain: Mann Packing Co.; Category Advisor: Apio

OTHER PERIMETER
Front End-Category Captain: Coinstar
Front End-General Merchandise; Category Advisor: Pfizer

NONFOODS
Books and Magazines-Category Captain: Rodale