Simon Padovani-Ginies has been awarded the 2014 Joe Berry Award (JBA). Simon, Director of Buying at Aldi wrote a compelling essay on Consumer Focus and Organizational Compliance which was near the top of the list for essay scores.
During the final judging yesterday at Coca Cola Amatil offices in North Sydney Simon faced a panel of 15 judges as he presented his case. The use of the Prezi program to produce a mobile slideshow was well done and Simon was able to take the judges on a journey across the consumer focus elements. He finished his presentation with 'Simon's Six Strategic Recommendations’ which showed that he not only had researched well but had specific opinions on where the focus should be.
As 2014 JBA winner, Simon will be participating in the 2015 Westfield Retail Study Tour and will be guest speaker at the One80TC Breakfast and the annual ECRA Conference. We congratulate Simon on his award.
Jessica Hitchin from Coles Melbourne was the recipient of the 2014 ECRA Scholarship. Jessica will attend 
the IFGM Executive Management School at Mt Eliza and will participate in workshops with some of the industry's key executives. The school, run by Dr Melinda Muth, is one of the most prestigious training programs in Australia for food and grocery management.
Congratulations to Jessica.
The other finalists, Brad McLean, Phil Renfrey, Nicole Ferguson and Nick Franken gave very competitive presentations and will be experienced competitors when they next enter this award.
One-Day-Tour proves a great success
The ASMCA again arranged for young entrants into the Joe Berry Award to be guests on its annual One-Day-Tour. This program selects entrants from the 25 years & under age group and invites them to visit three sponsoring companies, have discussions with senior managers and department heads and to view the industry from a different perspective.
This year entrants visited 3M, Campbell Arnott’s, Nielsen, Manassen Foods and Woolworths. In Melbourne Myer CEO Bernie Brookes joined the group for part of their Myer visit. All participants report that they found the day to be a great benefit to their understanding of the industry.