Coop: the only Italian chain among the winners of the “Salute to Excellence Awards”

Twenty-five distributors from all of Europe were present, and only one Italian distributor was awarded. The international recognition awarded at Plma known as the “Salute to Excellence Awards”, a fair for brand distributors which was held in Amsterdam on the 20th and 21st of May, went to a Coop Italia for the 125g sized package of the pomegranate probiotic yogurt Eufyr.

“The winners of the 'Salute to Excellence Awards' demonstrate how the innovation in a distributor's brand now goes well over the large, well-known distributors”, stated Brian Sharoff, president of Plma. “The diversity of distributors, small and large, which earned the awards demonstrated the vast range of creativity and innovation present today in the scope of distributors' brands.”

The winning products were selected from a range of over 210 products, sent by 45 distributors from 16 countries. The products, all intorduced within the proceeding 12 months, belonged to over 30 categories of food, health, beauty, kitchen, and house products.

The food products comprised of unusual items such as banana-flavored biological rice cakes, granola with seven types of dried fruit and nuts, and pomogranate probiotic yogurt, clearly. Among the winners for non-food products were a cherry-scented environmental deoderant, a Mediterranean breeze-scented shower gel, and a two-phase purifying hair conditioner.

The candidates were evaluated at the beginning of the year at the Plma offices in Amsterdam by an international jury which comprised of chefs, ex distributors, scholars, nutritionists, journalists and packaging specialists.

The jury examined and evaluated the products based on various criteria: appearance, taste, packaging and presentation, and convenience. The food products which required to be cooked were prepared by chef Diane Kniss, which collaborated with the Salute to Excellence di Plma program for several years in the United States. The judges took into account cultural and national differences among the products and distributors, thereby allowing the final winners to represent the complete diversity of experiences of European consumers.

All winning products were exhibited in the “Supermarket of Ideas” area at the fair, and can be also viewed online at the special website www.plmasalute.com.