IGA NAMES A TRIO OF 2004
PRESIDENT’S CUP AWARD WINNERS

CHICAGO, IL - IGA today named three 2004 IGA President’s Cup Award winners. The awards, the highest presentations made by IGA to its licensed distribution centers, will be presented at the IGA 2005 International Retailers of the Year Awards Dinner Ceremony to be held on Tuesday, March 1, at Marriott’s Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Palm Springs, Calif.

Included in the judging for these awards is the increase of IGA Retail sales from last year, the net increase in total IGA retail square footage, the number of supermarkets added to the IGA system, the IGA Operational Assessment rating, IGA Brand support, Hometown Proud involvement, and participation in IGA events.

The recipients are as follows:

• Laurel Grocery Company, a full-line food wholesaler that serves IGA Retailers in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia, will be awarded the 2005 IGA President’s Cup for Overall IGA Performance.
• Bozzuto’s, Inc., a leading total service wholesale distributor of food and household products to IGA Retailers in New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, will be awarded the 2005 IGA President’s Cup for Greatest IGA Development.
• In acknowledgement of IGA Australia’s status as the world supermarket leader in same store growth, IGA Distribution Queensland Australia will be awarded the first ever IGA President’s Cup for Greatest International IGA Development. IGA Distribution Queensland serves IGA Retailers in an area more than 2500 square kilometers ranging from the far north of Queensland to northern New South Wales.

“In the vision of our founder J. Frank Grimes, the three legs of the IGA stool, the authorized distribution centers, the preferred manufactures and the IGA licensed Retailers, join together to form ‘an alliance to satisfy the consumer,’” said Thomas S. Haggai, chairman and CEO of IGA. “IGA has held sacred Mr. Grimes statement that the customers wishes are our demands.”

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 37 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.