Houchens Food Group Wins Big at NFRA Golden Penguin Awards

The National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) recently honored Houchens Food Group (HFG) marketing and merchandising teams with its 2024 Golden Penguin Awards, recognizing outstanding marketing and merchandising in the frozen and refrigerated foods industry.

Entries are judged by a panel of marketing professionals who look for creativity, clarity, and effectiveness when supporting these promotional months. Winning entries and campaigns feature measurable results and innovative approaches executed in March, June, and July.

The awards showcase the industry’s commitment to innovation and consumer engagement through campaigns for March Frozen Food Month, June Dairy Month, and July's Summer Favorites Ice Cream and Novelties. For each of the campaigns, HFG developed custom signage for their stores to use alongside materials provided by NFRA, and further incentivized stores to participate by offering the three best store displays a $250 gift card per campaign period.

It paid off. HFG won the Top Marketer of the Year for June Dairy Month, an accolade that reflects the team's dedication to promoting dairy products through innovative and engaging campaigns. In total, their stores earned 13 gold and 17 silver awards for work across the three campaigns. 86 HFG stores under the IGA, Price Less, and Hometown Market banners participated in the campaigns.

“This is where the top of the top are recognized. From large-scale national campaigns to inventive local promotions, each entry reflects the dedication and creativity that make our industry thrive,” said Tricia Greyshock, President and CEO of NFRA.

March Frozen Foods Month

Price Less IGA 590's silver-winning frozen food display.

In March, HFG stores participated in the frozen food display contest, using superhero-themed signage developed by the HFG marketing and merchandising teams, as well as supporting POS materials provided by the NFRA. The campaign theme, "Frozen Food Saves the Day," represented the ways that frozen food can make life easier, including saving time in the kitchen, saving money, and reducing waste.

Price Less IGA store 590's efforts in using the materials throughout the department paid off especially well, with a 4.5% sales lift in the frozen department and 5.42% unit lift compared to the previous year. The campaign was so successful that frozen food accounted for over 31% of digital coupons redeemed company-wide in March. 

March HFG Winners:

Gold

• Community Involvement - HFG
• In-Store Display – IGA Store #10
• In-Store Display – IGA Store #450
• In-Store Display – IGA Store #49

Silver

• Social Media Campaign - HFG
• In-Store Display – IGA Store #461
• In-Store Display – IGA Store #38
• In-Store Display – Price Less IGA Store #490
• In-Store Display – Price Less IGA Store #590
• In-Store Display – Price Less IGA Store #434

June Dairy Month

IGA Store #450's gold-winning dairy display.

To support the June Dairy Month display participating HFG stores again leveraged POS materials and custom signage specifically designed by HFG supplemented by resources provided by the NFRA. The overarching theme, "Dairy is Cool," aimed to showcase the diverse offerings in the dairy department beyond just cheese, eggs, and milk. To bring this theme to life, animated characters and accessories like sunglasses were used to emphasize the "cool" factor.

The custom signage package included weekly 22x28 stanchion signs highlighting dairy deals, wobblers promoting a "Win Free Milk for a Year" contest, Dairy Month buttons for employees, hanging signs with fun dairy-related facts, and aisle blades featuring dairy information.

IGA store 450 demonstrated exceptional use of these materials, leading to a nearly 22% increase in overall butter sales and 57% increase in Greek yogurt sales that month compared to the previous year. The campaign also contributed to dairy items accounting for over 50% of digital coupons redeemed company-wide in June.

June HFG Winners:

Gold

• Overall Marketing Campaign Retailer - HFG
• In-Store Display - IGA Store #39
• In-Store Display - Price Less IGA Store #468
• In-Store Display - IGA Store #450

Silver

• Social Media Campaign - HFG
• In-Store Display - IGA Store #2
• In-Store Display - Price Less IGA Store #445
• In-Store Display - IGA Store #451
• In-Store Display - IGA Store #1

July Ice Cream and Novelties Month

Price Less IGA #490's silver-winning ice cream display.

Inspired by an ice cream truck with pastel colors, HFG created custom signage for their participating stores for the NFRA July Ice Cream and Novelties Month display contest. Signage included end cap headers, hanging signs, and freezer clings, and the campaign featured a shopper contest and chance to win a year's worth of ice cream.

Price Less store 490 demonstrated the greatest growth during the campaign, with a nearly 11% increase in ice cream units sold compared to the previous month. Brands featured in the campaign saw great growth as well, with Blue Bunny sales up over 56%, Mayfield sales up nearly 27%, and Breyers sales up nearly 19% compared to the previous month. Company-wide, the campaign resulted in nearly 15,000 people entering the giveaways and nearly 30,000 people viewing them. 

July HFG Winners:

Gold

• Overall Marketing Campaign Retailer - HFG
• Social Media Campaign - HFG
• In-Store Display - Price Less IGA Store #467
• In-Store Display - Price Less IGA Store #474
• In-Store Display - Price Less IGA Store #487

Silver

• Private Brand Campaign - HFG
• In-Store Display - IGA Store #56
• In-Store Display - IGA Store #2
• In-Store Display - Price Less IGA Store #30
• In-Store Display - Price Less IGA Store #490
• In-Store Display - IGA Store #39

“The Golden Penguin Awards are more than just peer recognition; they’re a showcase of innovative best practices that drive our industry forward,” added Greyshock. “We look forward to celebrating these achievements that inspire excellence in frozen and refrigerated foods marketing and merchandising.”

Congratulations to Houchens Food Group and the winning stores!

See the full list of Golden Penguin Award winners here.