Grocery News In Brief…
The United Fresh Produce Association has chosen Big Y World Class Market Produce & Floral Sales Manager Jennifer Ratkiewicz as one of 25 winners in its 2016 Retail Produce Manager Awards Program. Ratkiewicz has been with Big Y for 23 years. She started her career as a front-end service clerk and cashier before transitioning to the bakery department, eventually becoming the bakery manager before making the switch to produce. She currently works in the company’s Cooley Street location in Springfield, Massachusetts. Past Big Y award winners are Rick Stolarik in 2010, DJ Bertoldi in 2011, John Heon in 2012, Jeff Vocatura in 2013, Gina Wasilefsky in 2014 and Ron Tarini in 2015…
The Connecticut Food Association will honor Leslie Sarasin, president and CEO of the Food Marketing Institute, as its Person of the Year on Oct. 20 at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. The event will begin with a cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by a dinner and ceremony at 6:30 p.m. …
In less than a month, the State University of New York at New Paltz will begin offering two new food marketing classes as part of its Food Marketing Track. The classes are Food Retail Marketing and Food Category Management. In addition to the classes, the program’s students will be able to participate in the William Paterson University national sales competition, National Grocers Association’s annual conference, Target case study competition, Frozen & Refrigerated Association of New England’s conference and multiple events sponsored by the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp.—including the Hudson Valley Beer, Wine & Cider Expo. Dr. Russell Zwanka, New Paltz AMA faculty advisor, said, “The goal at SUNY New Paltz Food Marketing is to educate these students with the essential knowledge base that will make them extremely attractive to you come spring as our seniors move out into the job world; and as we, year after year, feed a stream of highly competent, knowledgeable, super students into an exciting food industry.”
