Jan 25, 2011
PHOENIX, AZ — January 24, 2011 — The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) presented the 2011 Esther Peterson Consumer Service Award to Susan Mayo, recognizing more than 33 years of distinguished service in supermarket consumer affairs. She is the chief marketing officer for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the president and owner of Susan T. Mayo Consulting, LLC. She retired from Farm Fresh Supermarkets in 2010, where she served as vice president of consumer affairs and public relations.

     Established in 1986, FMI’s Esther Peterson Award honors a lifetime of dedicated service to consumers. Its namesake pioneered the position of consumer advisor at Giant Food, LLC. and in the White House when the position of special assistant to the president for consumer affairs was created during the Johnson Administration. She later held the same post under President Carter.

     Mayo began her career advocating on behalf of supermarket customers in 1977, when she served as the Director of Consumer Affairs at Farm Fresh. She spent her entire career focused on providing information to consumers, including nutrition and wellness information, food safety guidance and helpful hints on how to save money on groceries. Her role at Farm Fresh expanded greatly over the course of time and she was also responsible for developing and executing high impact communications strategies in addition to leading a community relations team charged with responding to more than 20,000 customer inquiries every year.
   
Mayo focused on helping her community as well. She founded the Farm Fresh Charitable Foundation that helped to raise money for many non-profit organizations in the Virginia Beach and Norfolk, VA areas. She organized the largest charity golf tournament in the Mid Atlantic region and developed numerous community service programs including children’s store tours, cooking classes, food drives and educational partnerships.

She is a respected leader within the consumer affairs community. Mayo was a member of the FMI Consumer Affairs Committee and also served as its chairman.

Mayo is the 14th recipient of the Peterson Award. Others to receive it include Giant Food Inc. Vice President of Consumer Affairs Odonna Matthews, Wegmans Food Markets Senior Vice President of Consumer Affairs Mary Ellen Burris, Giant Food Chairman Israel Cohen, American Red Cross President Elizabeth Dole, Associate FDA Commissioner for Consumer Affairs Alexander Grant, Psychology Today Editor-in Chief T. George Harris, U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and nutrition pioneer and Tufts University President Dr. Jean Mayer.

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Food Marketing Institute (FMI) conducts programs in public affairs, food safety, research, education and industry relations on behalf of its 1,500 member companies — food retailers and wholesalers — in the United States and around the world. FMI’s U.S. members operate approximately 26,000 retail food stores and 14,000 pharmacies. Their combined annual sales volume of $680 billion represents three-quarters of all retail food store sales in the United States. FMI’s retail membership is composed of large multi-store chains, regional firms and independent supermarkets. Its international membership includes 200 companies from more than 50 countries. FMI’s associate members include the supplier partners of its retail and wholesale members.