Candy merchants get sweet reward

Washington, DC — Merchants at CVS, Smart & Final and Meijer have been named recipients of the 2013 Confectionery Leadership Awards by the National Confectioners Association.



The awards celebrate contributions made by recipients through their effective business collaboration, category management best practices and innovations in merchandising confectionery products in-store. This year’s recipients include Julie Bischoff, senior category manager at Smart & Final; Kimberley Felice-Dooley, senior category manager at CVS Caremark and AJ Jesswanin, category merchant for candy and commercial bakery at Meijer.



“This award program was designed to acknowledge those trade customers who serve as role models for other retailers and wholesalers,” says NCA president Larry Graham. “It recognizes individuals who use their experience to encourage visionary thinking and to drive the entire confectionery category forward.”



NCA, in collaboration with Candy & Snack TODAY magazine, created the awards program in 2011 to recognize and honor the confectionery industry’s best and most innovative category champions and leaders. The program allows NCA manufacturers and brokers to recognize these outstanding retailers and wholesalers in the confectionery community for their effective customer marketing, shopper-driven shelving practices and promotion of new items.



Bischoff, Felice-Dooley and Jesswani are scheduled to receive their awards in Miami at NCA’s annual State of the Industry Conference on February 25, 2013.