ST. PAUL, MN — Minnesota-based SuperValu welcomed over 4,300 attendees representing 1,800 retail stores and more than 330 vendors to its second annual National Expo, held Aug. 11-13 at the downtown RiverCentre, here.

In addition to serving as a major buying show, the company said the three-day expo focused on driving sales, grocery innovation and retailer education.

“This show is really about the celebration of our wholesale customers — the independent retailers who are so important to the overall success of our company,” Jeffrey Swanson, vice president of communications and enterprise learning at SuperValu, told The Produce News. “It’s terrific to be able to bring them together in one location and offer to them education and networking opportunities, provide them with an incredible buying show experience, help them develop their sales plan for the months ahead, and showcase for them exciting new products and seasonal offerings. The show gives us an opportunity to spotlight for them other ways we can help them be successful beyond being their supplier.”

This year’s educational sessions by SuperValu University covered 14 different business topics based on feedback from last year’s attendees, including food safety, leveraging data, digital marketing, increasing center store sales, social media strategies, and engaging associates to improve results.

The mid-day education keynote speaker Mike Rayburn, author, entrepreneur, comedian and thought leader, also gave an entertaining presentation illustrating ways to inspire employees to embrace innovation and to lead by creating change, instead of just managing change.

Josh Linkner, author, entrepreneur and founding partner of Detroit Venture Partners, was the evening opening session keynote speaker and he challenged attendees to “embrace ‘disruptive innovation’ in the grocery business.”

Ralph Schwartz, vice president of marketing, sales and innovation at Potandon in Idaho Falls, ID, told The Produce News that he enjoyed attending the expo.

“I think the sales we did as a company were on target to surpass last year’s sales,” Schwartz said. “We had good support from the retailers from all the different SuperValu divisions from across the country. It was a nice chance to get together and network with some people that I don’t get to see very often. It’s a nice, almost family-like setting. It feels great. And I can’t say enough about the relationship that Potandon has had with Supervalu over the years. The key executives make it a point to come over and speak with you and appreciate your business. I certainly feel they value us as a vendor a lot. It’s not artificial — it’s the real thing.”

During an awards ceremony on Aug. 12, SuperValu announced the winners of its 2015 Master Marketer competition. According to the company, the annual competition recognizes the top marketing campaigns executed by SuperValu’s 1,800-plus independent retailer customers. This year, the competition included 475 entries from grocery retailers throughout the nation, with 20 winners selected across 10 marketing categories. Each Master Marketer category winner is automatically entered into the National Grocers Association’s Creative Choice awards, which are presented at the association’s annual conference each February.

Niemann Foods, based in Quincy, IL, took home the top honor as the 2015 Grand Master Marketer for its comprehensive marketing campaigns implemented throughout the past year. SuperValu surprised Niemann with a $25,000 grant from its charitable foundation, payable to the charity of Niemann’s choice.

“The Master Marketer awards showcase the best of the best,” Janel Haugarth, executive vice president and president of independent business and supply chain services at SuperValu, said in a news release. “This year’s competition drew a record number of entries and once again demonstrated our independent retail customers’ exceptional level of creativity and commitment to their local communities.”

And Swanson was impressed with the entire execution of the three-day expo. He told The Produce News, “If there is one word to describe what the show really represents it would be passion. Our independent customers are so passionate about their stores and business and it was evident in their approach to learning, planning and purchasing. We made a conscious effort to make our show floor for produce and all fresh departments even bigger and better this year. Our vendors really stepped up as well and the result was a phenomenal overall presentation. You really couldn’t enter the show without being wowed by our floral and produce sections. This is a major undertaking and an entire team effort to bring this show together. But this is what drives our passion for this business — a chance to be with our customers and to help give them every opportunity for success.”