>>achievements to celebrate - and verified by exclusive research

>>THE ISSUES THAT MATTER, FROM THE PEOPLE INVOLVED

You cannot fail to spot that in this week’s issue we are toasting the success of the companies that have emerged victorious in The Grocer Gold Awards.
Arla, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Cadbury Trebor Bassett, Landmark, Budgens, Newitt, Cook, Brakes, Morrisons, Asda, Ocado and Tesco have all proved, in what is arguably one of the toughest award schemes around, that they are truly the best of the best.
Since launching the Golds three years ago, we have worked hard to make our awards a bit different from rival schemes - which is why so many of them are based on exclusive research carried out by us or, in the case of our shoppers’ award, carried out on our behalf by market research specialist ACNielsen.
Hopefully, you will have spotted the diversity of the companies on our list of winners. Our awards proved, yet again, that you do not always have to be the biggest to be judged the best. Unless you are Tesco, of course! It was the undoubted star of the night - picking up three gongs, including the coveted awards for Britain’s Favourite Supermarket and Grocer of the Year.
But there were also plenty of surprises on the night - just ask anybody in Landmark’s wine buying team if they thought they were going to come away with one of the top gongs in the industry for their Vintners Collection.
So, in this issue, you will find coverage of the stories behind the awards made to retailers - as well as our new awards for Best Wholesaler and Online Retailer of the Year. Next week, we’ll explain why Landmark, Cadbury, Arla and Coca-Cola Enterprises came out on top.
I make no apologies for giving so much coverage to these companies. As I think I have said in this column before, it is all too easy sometimes to get caught up with the daily grind of life in one of the most competitive markets in fmcg and forget that, actually, it is also a really fantastic industry in which to work.
Awards are a great way of reminding us of that fact - as well as providing an excuse to come together as an industry, do a bit of networking and celebrate success. And those who came to our awards dinner at the Dorchester Hotel on London’s Park Lane earlier this week clearly enjoyed doing all of that!
Congratulations again to all our winners and those companies that we we shortlisted - your achievements are well worth celebrating.
Raise a glass to the best