The Maine Grocers and Food Producers Association (MGFPA) held its Fifth Annual Best Bagger Championship in the Maine Mall in South Portland on Sept. 27.
Amy Taylor of Shaw’s Supermarkets in Rockland, Maine, is the 2018 Best Bagger champion. She won an expense-paid trip for two to San Diego to represent Maine at the 2019 National Championship, which will be held at the National Grocers Association Show scheduled for Feb. 24-27. Taylor will compete for a grand prize of $10,000.
Placing second in the competition was Melanie Dix of Shaw’s Supermarkets of Scarborough; coming in third was Taylor Hett of Hannaford Supermarkets of North Berwick.
Local independent grocers and Maine-based chains hosted preliminary qualifying rounds and then sent the top baggers to the championship. The nine competing best bagger contestants were judged on the national criteria, which includes speed, proper bag-building technique, distribution of weight between bags, style, attitude and appearance.
MGFPA’s annual summit coming up
In other news, MGFPA is co-hosting its Annual Summit for its members and the retail food trade with the Retail Association of Maine on Wed., Oct. 10, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Pineland Farms Conference Center in New Gloucester, Maine.
The summit’s goal is to unite retailers, grocers, food producers and industry vendors for a day of education, networking and fun. The day will include small business educational sessions with topics such as Tech Trends, How to Generate Demand, Building Loyalty by Leveraging Your Community, Top Legal Issues for Small Biz, Workforce & Professional Development, Growing Your Sales Online, and Creating Memorable Customer Experiences. The event also will include a Maine Food Showcase.
The MGFPA represents Main Street businesses, independently-owned and -operated grocery stores, supermarkets, food and beverage producers and processors, wholesalers and distributors as well as allied service companies.
The Retail Association of Maine was founded in 1933 by a group of Maine business people to help promote the merchants on a statewide basis and to provide a voice for the industry to legislative leaders. The association is governed by a 21-member board of directors that represents retailers in Maine.
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