Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) recently honored McCormick & Co. and Pinnacle Foods with the 2016 CPG Awards for Innovation and Creativity.
The awards were presented in July at the GMA Leadership Forum at The Greenbrier. Winners are selected each year by the GMA Advisory Council in recognition for their creativity and willingness to take risks, resulting in measurable results and significant impact on the industry.
“The successes of both McCormick and Pinnacle are prime examples of how thinking outside the box can spark change across a brand and across the industry,” said GMA president/CEO Pamela Bailey.
Pinnacle Foods was recognized for its Duncan Hines Perfect Size platform. Launched in 2015, Perfect Size addresses the key market dynamic of smaller households and consumer desires to avoid leftovers by offering a complete solution with mix, cake pan and icing to make a perfectly sized cake to serve two to four people. "Duncan Hines has given traditional bakers a reason to come back to the baking mixes category, which had been seeing declines, and bake smaller portions of their favorite cakes for their smaller households," GMA said. "Perfect Size has been so successful that Pinnacle is expanding the platform this year into more desserts such as cheesecake, chocolate crème pie and key lime pie."
"Using analytics and qualitative consumer research, we were able to identify key insights around changes taking place in the demographics of U.S. households and form a hands-on, entrepreneurial team to more deeply understand the consumer need, develop the concept into a platform and then bring-to-market a line of products for our customers and consumers,” said Mark Schiller, president of the North America Retail Business Unit of Pinnacle Foods.
McCormick & Co. was recognized for its McCormick Herb Grinders, which deliver the flavor and aroma of fresh herbs, such as basil or oregano, in a convenient format. The product has helped McCormick increase its market share and compete against fresh spices because of the longer shelf life and is now scheduled to be rolled out in additional regions, including Canada and France.
"This innovation captures a previously unmet consumer need by providing fresher flavor and aroma, versatility from prep to plate, and a multi-sensorial experience,” said Brendan Foley, McCormick's President, Global Consumer Business & North America.
GMA also presented its Hall of Achievement Award to Ed Crenshaw, who retired earlier this year as Publix CEO. The Hall of Achievement Award is GMA’s highest honor and recognizes the service and extraordinary contributions of distinguished food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry leaders.