Pine State Trading won top prize as "Exhibitor of the Year" at the 2014 Vermont Retail and Grocers Association (VRGA) Convention and Expo, held at the Champlain Valley Exposition on Sept. 9-10 The award is based on overall attractiveness, creativity, and presentation of the exhibit booth as judged by the retail members of the Exhibit Committee.
“It’s always both fun and a pleasure to recognize the energy and creativity that businesses bring to this event,” noted VRGA President Jim Harrison. “And it’s always a serious challenge to pick one winner, given the number of outstanding exhibitions we see.”
“We at Pine State are extremely honored to be chosen as the VRGA 2014 exhibitor of the year,” said T.J. White, Regional Sales Manager. “We value the VRGA show as a great opportunity for the vendors, manufacturers and distributors to interact with the membership. This would not have been possible if it was not for the efforts of all the Pine State Trading team that made this show a success. Thank you to all of them and the VRGA membership for this award.”
The annual exposition is the largest show of its kind in Vermont. This year’s event was the first presented by the new, expanded VRGA, which was created by the March, 2014 merger of the Vermont Grocers Association and the Vermont Retail Association. Exhibitors included beverage companies, Vermont specialty food producers, wholesalers, dairies, deli purveyors and more. The event also included a “matchmaker” component that included individual meetings between exhibitors and retail buyers.
The Vermont Retail & Grocers Association represents approximately 800 Vermont retail stores and 250 suppliers to the industry, including members of the Vermont Specialty Food Association. VRGA is an association of merchants and trade partners united to promote the sustainable growth of the industry through the Educational, Economic and Public Policy needs of members.