VIC BURAGLIO RECEIVES IGA'S
J. FRANK GRIMES AWARD

CHICAGO, IL – Vic Buraglio, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Champaign, Ill.-based Kirby Foods, was awarded IGA's J. Frank Grimes Award at the 2003 IGA Global Summit in Palm Springs , Calif. , held March 9-12.

The Award is given in recognition of extraordinary achievement to one who exhibits the principle, passion and great charisma of IGA's founder J. Frank Grimes. Past recipients of the Award include some of the world's most esteemed business executives.  Buraglio, is the first IGA retailer to receive the Award.

"In the spirit of our founder, when confronted by the many facets of competition, Vic Buraglio chose to never think about survival, but about meeting customers' expectations," said Dr. Thomas Haggai, chairman and CEO of IGA. "With this philosophy he earned continuous growth, and now has more than 20, not supermarkets, but IGA community centers."

Buraglio began his career in the supermarket industry at the age of 15 at a Champaign , Ill. 's Eisner Food Stores. At the age of 30 he joined Kirby Foods, a local independent company that, at the time, owned three IGA stores. Buraglio purchased a minority ownership in Kirby Foods in 1976. Today Kirby Foods owns and operates stores throughout Illinois and Indiana.

"It was an extreme honor to receive the Award and I feel an extreme sense of pride to be the first IGA Retailer to have been selected," Buraglio said. "When I look over the list of past recipients, it is beyond my comprehension that my name will appear on that list. I am both overwhelmed and joyful."

IGA, the only global supermarketer based in the United States, is the world's largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $21 billion per year. The Allianceincludes more than 4,000 Hometown Proud Supermarkets worldwide, supported by 36 distribution companies and more than 55 major manufacturers, vendors and suppliers encompassing everything from grocery to equipment items. IGA ranks in the top 10 in world food supermarketing. IGA has operations in 48 of the United States and more than 40 countries, commonwealths and territories on all six inhabited continents.