Gold Plate Awards

The FMI Foundation created the Gold Plate Award in 2013 to highlight the outstanding programs implemented by the retail food industry to encourage family meals. Examples include healthy family meals, quick and easy family meals and recipes, cooking with kids, themed dinners, breakfast with the family, MyPlate meals, and much more. The award recognizes outstanding programs that food retailers and suppliers have implemented, to encourage families to share more meals, together at home, more often.

Celebrate 2023's Gold Plate Awards Recipients!

After a great month of family meals, we were able to host the 2023 Gold Plate Awards ceremony in conjunction with the in-person Health & Well-being Council meeting at FMI Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. David Fikes, executive director of the FMI Foundation, and Kelli Windsor, senior director of digital communications, co-hosted the Gold Plate Awards ceremony on Tuesday, November 28th.

Thank you to all Gold Plate Award recipients (winners and honorable mentions) and all submissions for this year's awards program. We hope your company will consider a family meals month activation or program in the year to come.

Please tune into the recorded Awards Ceremony using the button below!

Tune into the 2023 Ceremony Here!

The nomination period for 2023's awards cycle is closed. Thank you for your submissions and we appreciate your contributions to the National Family Meals Movement!

Past Winners and Honorable Mentions

2023 Gold Plate Awards Winners

Category A: Retailer 1 - 49 Stores

Skogen's Festival Foods

The More Meals Together campaign increased awareness and motivation for family meals by partnering with supplier vendors to expand digital marketing opportunities including recipe content, social media videos of meal trends, a themed landing page with weekly meal plans and ad items, and promotional email blasts. Festival Foods' 'Food for Neighbors' donation efforts added a community engagement component to the campaign.

Category B: Retailer 50 - 199 Stores

K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. (Food City)

The Stay Strong with Family Meals: Meals Made for Sharing campaign encouraged families to eat together and connected shoppers with sustainable solutions for family meal planning. As a USDA MyPlate National Strategic Partner, the company included the promotion of USDA’s MyPlate for meal planning. Registered dietitians led the initiative with TV segments and social media channel videos promoting the benefits of family meals.

Category C: Retailer 200+ Stores

Hy-Vee, Inc

This expansive campaign tied into National Hispanic Heritage Month focused on helping families find quality time together at meals. Incentives for Hy-Vee Kids Club members included a way to track family meals throughout the month. A free cookbook received over 1,000 downloads and featured kid-friendly and dietitian-approved recipes, along with digital family cooking guides for budget-friendly and multicultural-themed recipes.

Category D: Manufacturer

Pure Flavor

The Together campaign connected the importance of family meals to the consumption of greenhouse-grown fruits and vegetables for healthy lifestyles. Each week Pure Flavor promoted new recipes, tips, and family meal facts, through social media channels, blogs, and a weekly survey with a chance to win Instacart gift cards.

Community Collaborator Category:

The Foundation For Fresh Produce

The Have A Plant at Family Meals initiative embraces the connection between National Family Meals Month™ and National Fruits and Veggies Month – which are both celebrated in September. The theme for 2023 leveraged family meals messaging and content was disseminated throughout the Foundation’s digital ecosystem including social media channels, websites, and consumer newsletters.

Honorable Mentions:

● Rouses Markets
● Brookshire Grocery Company
● Campbell Soup Company
● Merchants Distributors, LLC

Gold Plate Awards Criteria

The Gold Plate Awards recognize retailer and supplier programs that creatively participated in National Family Meals Month^TM in September.

The FMI Foundation will be gathering information about National Family Meals Month participation by food retailers and suppliers throughout the food industry during the month of September. The Gold Plate Award winners will be decided based on each company’s participation.

The following criteria will be used in the selection of Gold Plate Award winning programs:

Quality (breadth, depth, and extent of programming; consistency with NFMM; well thought out and executed; comprehensive measurement and reported reach)
Originality/Creativity
Ability to scale and replicate the program
Inclusion of National Family Meals Month
Corporate participation – level of company/store-wide involvement

Winning companies will be selected in five categories:

Category A: Small retailers (Companies with 1-49 stores)
Category B: Medium retailers (Companies with 50-199 stores)
Category C: Large retailers (Companies with 200+ stores)
Category D: Food Manufacturers/Suppliers
Category E: Community Collaborators (Formerly “Allies” and may include other family organizations and fellow industry/trade organizations)