Over 650 leading lights in the Australian convenience industry came together at Crown in Melbourne last night to celebrate the inspiring achievements of the top retailers, suppliers, stores and up-and-coming talent in convenience at the AACS Gala & Awards dinner.
The first award given out was a special celebratory award for Keith Berg and Safa de Valois -the founder of Convenience and Impulse Retailing magazine, and commercial director. Jeff Rogut presented the award to celebrate 30 years of the magazine.
This year’s Retailer of the Year was BP Australia and the Supplier of the Year award went to PepsiCo.
The Store of the Year awards went to The Foodary at Tullamarine (company operated) and BP Urbanista at Condell Park (franchise/independent).
Top individual honours went to Shannon Fargher of BP and Matt Bluck of Parmalat, who picked up the coveted AACS Peter Jowett Convenience Industry Awards for retailers and suppliers respectively. Deborah Ruka of Caltex was named the AACS Woman of the Year.
AACS CEO Jeff Rogut said the Convenience Leaders Summit and Gala Awards celebration were especially poignant this year, which has seen the convenience sector elevated to the front of the public conscious.
“The AACS Gala Awards are a great way to remind ourselves of the talent and innovation that’s driving our industry forward,” Mr Rogut said.
“Convenience stores have been in the headlines of late as victims of crime, but we won’t be defined in this way. Ours is a dynamic industry filled with people of great thinking and real action, and our award winners each exemplify the spirit of convenience in Australia.
“In particular, the commitment to innovate and find new and exciting ways to attract and serve customers is consistent across this year’s winners and finalists. Customer service is at the core of what we do, and ensuring we do this in the most convenient way possible, delivering an experience that communicates our value proposition, is the true value of convenience.
“Congratulations to all this year’s winners and runners-up, and thank you to the industry for getting involved in our Convenience Leaders Summit and Gala Awards,” he says.
AACS Awards – all winners by category
A full list of this year’s AACS Awards winners is overleaf. To ensure the best and fairest outcome, the awards for retailers were judged by suppliers and vice versa. Stores award entries were nominated by retailers and then judged through a team of mystery shoppers against set criteria.
And the award goes to….
AACS Supplier Awards
Food on the Go
Finalists: Mrs Macs, Handmade Food Co., Patties Foods
Winner: Patties Foods
Beverages
Finalists: Coca Cola, Frucor Suntory, Lion Dairy & Drinks
Winner: Frucor Suntory
Confectionery
Finalists: Mondelez, Stuart Alexander, Nestle
Winner: Stuart Alexander
Distributors
Finalists: Metcash, The Distributors, PFD Foods
Winner: The Distributors
Service Provider
Finalists: IRI, Convenience Measures, Shopper Tracker
Winner: Convenience Measures
Grocery & GM
Finalists: Pacific Optics, Repco
Winner: Pacific Optics
Snacking
Finalists: PepsiCo, Peters, Snackbrands
Winner: PepsiCo
Telecommunications
Finalists: Optus, Telstra, Vodafone
Winner: Vodafone
Tobacco
Finalists: Philip Morris, Richlands Express, Imperial Tobacco
Winner: Philip Morris
AACS Store Awards
Major Retailer Company Operated Store of the Year
Finalists: 7-Eleven – Brisbane, APCO – North Geelong
Winner: The Foodary – Tullamarine
Major Retailer Franchise / Independent Store of the Year
Finalists: 7-Eleven – Lithgow, Westside Petroleum – Bundanoon
Winner: BP Urbanista – Condell Park
AACS Supplier of the Year
Finalists: Coca Cola, Frucor Suntory, PepsiCo
Winner: PepsiCo
AACS Retailer of the Year
Finalists: AA Petroleum, BP Australia, 7 Eleven
Winner: BP Australia
AACS PJ Industry Award
Finalists: Retail
- Anthea Tsaousis, BP
- Shannon Fargher, BP
- Samantha Ngan Kee, Caltex
Finalists: Suppliers
- Matt Bluck, Parmalat
- Samuel Bennett, Optus
- Sean MacKay, Philip Morris
Winners:
Retail: Shannon Fargher, BP
Suppliers: Matt Bluck, Parmalat
AACS Women of the Year
Rising Star Finalists
Finalists: Bethany Franklin – BP, Erin Beilharz – Schweppes, Sabrina Bayer – Frucor Beverages
Winner: Sabrina Bayer, Frucor Beverages
Store Operator of the Year Finalists
Finalists: Kathy Bright – BP, Kerri Charlton – APCO, Rebecca Smith – BP
Winner: Kerri Charlton, APCO
Women of the Year Finalists
Finalists: Tracey Janson – Phillip Morris, Deborah Ruka – Caltex, Sylvia Laible – BP
Winner: Deborah Ruka, Caltex