The Giant Co., based in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, has been awarded the 2020 Gold Plate Award by the FMI Foundation in the COVID-19 Heroes category. A new category for the annual awards program, it recognizes charitable programs that help families share meals together during the pandemic.
The Giant Co. accepted the award for its program, “The Giant Co. is For Today’s Table during National Family Meals Month,” at the virtual FMI Midwinter Executive Conference on Jan. 26. This is the second Gold Plate Award for The Giant Co., having been recognized in 2018 for its “Power of One More Family Meal” campaign.
“The Giant Co. is fiercely committed to our purpose of connecting families for a better future; it drives all we do and is our reason for being,” said Nicholas Bertram, president. “I want to thank our more than 35,000 team members who bring our purpose to life each day, especially over the past year. They are the heart of our company and the communities they care for, and it is an honor to have their ongoing efforts recognized by the FMI Foundation as a best practice among the nation’s food retailers.”
During National Family Meals Month last September, The Giant Co. launched its For Today’s Table brand platform celebrating the importance of family meals in creative and relevant ways for customers, community partners and team members. From mass media and social channels to refreshed uniforms and store décor, merchandising innovations, corporate social responsibility and more, elements of the holistic meal-centric campaign included:
- Encouraging customers to share photos of their family connecting over a meal on social media using #ForTodaysTable during the month; for every photo shared, The Giant Co. donated the cash equivalent to provide 100 meals to neighbors in need. When combined with the more than $2 million donated through the combined efforts of the company, its customers and supplier partners support local hunger relief efforts, more than 20 million meals were delivered to families in need;
- Illustrating the importance of connecting families through food in a truly authentic way, creative ads were developed featuring real families. Five families were asked to capture footage of their daily lives, including mealtime, for the TV and radio spots;
- To encourage connection over shared meals wherever they may be, The Giant Co. distributed red tables, benches and picnic blankets throughout the community and to area food banks. On Sept. 26, National Family Day, the first 100 customers in stores also received a picnic blanket; and
- Knowing The Giant Co.’s purpose of connecting families for a better future begins with its own team members, $100 in Grocery Dollars were provided for each of its 35,000 team members, helping make their own family meals a little easier.
“The Gold Plate Awards highlight the outstanding work the food industry is doing as part of the Family Meals Movement,” said David Fikes, executive director of the FMI Foundation. “Family meals help us stay strong by boosting fruit and vegetable consumption and connectiveness, which support overall personal health. The food industry continues to provide shoppers creative and easy meal solutions as families face new shopping and meal habits brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Overall, more than 100 million people were reached through The Giant Co.’s For Today’s Table campaign, laying the foundation for encourage family meals not only during September but throughout the year. To learn more about The Giant Co.’s campaign, visit fmi.org/goldplateawards.
Added Bertram, “National Family Meals Month and For Today’s Table go hand in hand. Like the FMI Foundation, we believe meaningful connections happen when families share and connect over a meal. Shared meals build strong families and, in turn, stronger communities, and that truly has the power to change the world.”
The FMI Foundation created the Gold Plate Awards to highlight the outstanding programs implemented by the food industry to encourage family meals throughout National Family Meals Month in September. The FMI Foundation seeks to ensure continued quality and efficiency in the food retailing system and focuses on research, education and resources in the area of health and well-begin, which includes food safety, nutrition and social responsibility considerations. Created in 2015 by the FMI Foundation on behalf of the nation’s food retailers, National Family Meals Month encourages families to stay strong with family meals. Families meals eaten at home strengthen the family’s social fabric and promote healthier eating.
