THE J.M. SMUCKER COMPANY RECIEVES IGA 2004 RED OVAL AWARD OF DISTINCTION

CHICAGO, IL - IGA today announced The J.M. Smucker Company has been awarded the 2004 Red Oval Award of Distinction for Extraordinary Growth. IGA Contact John Mayer accepted the traveling Red Oval Award on behalf of the company on March 16th at IGA’s 2004 Global Summit in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

The award is given each year to two Red Oval Family partners; one to the partner that exhibits extraordinary commitment to IGA, the other, to the partner that exhibits extraordinary growth in support of IGA. Criteria for the award is focused largely on participation in the Red Oval Advisory Committee, support of IGA events, and IGA Grocergram Advertising.

“In 2003, The J.M. Smucker Company achieved record growth as a Red Oval Family partner,” said Bill Benzing, executive vice president and Chief Growth Officer. “In addition to a more than 20 million dollar sales increase, the company also demonstrated an ever-increasing show of support for IGA events, and a rapidly expanding role in IGA planning committees. We are proud of have this prestigious company as a Red Oval Family partner and we look forward continuing to advance this relationship in the coming years.”
“The J.M. Smucker Company is honored to receive the IGA Red Oval Award for 2004 and we would like to thank IGA and the IGA Retailers for this recognition,” said Mayer. “We look forward to our continued growth and business development between IGA and the J.M. Smucker Company.”

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 Alliance includes more than 4,000 Hometown Proud Supermarkets worldwide, supported by 36 distribution companies and more the 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.