IGA Celebrates 100 Years of Independent Grocery, Honors Retailers and Industry Leaders at Centennial Global Rally & Awards Gala

Nine U.S. Retailers of the Year and Eight International Retailers of the Year Recognized During Atlanta Centennial Celebration

ATLANTA (September 22, 2026) — IGA, Inc. capped its Centennial Global Rally with the IGA Centennial Awards of Excellence Gala on September 19 at the Georgia Aquarium, honoring the retailers, distribution partners, and industry leaders who represent a century of independent grocery excellence across the global IGA network.

IGA Chairman Mark Batenic and President and CEO John Ross hosted the celebration alongside emcee Lori Schwartz, founder and CEO of StoryTech, recognizing retailers from nine countries as part of IGA's Centennial year.

J. Frank Grimes Award

IGA's highest honor, the J. Frank Grimes Award, recognizes exceptional leadership and lasting contribution to the global IGA family. In a first for the award, two recipients were honored this Centennial year:

• Michael Bozzuto, chairman, president, and CEO of Bozzuto's Inc., whose family-owned wholesale company joined IGA in 1970. Bozzuto took over the family business in 1994 and, in 2000, founded the Dream Ride Experience, a fundraiser benefiting Special Olympics that has since grown into an international event. His father received the same award in 1992, making them the only father-son pair to receive the honor.
• Dr. Paulo Goelzer, who joined IGA Inc. in 1994 and founded the IGA Coca-Cola Institute in 2004. Under his leadership, the corporate university grew into an institution that has trained more than 10,000 retail businesses worldwide, with more than half of participants coming from outside the United States. Goelzer stepped down as president of the Institute earlier this year after more than three decades leading it and now serves in an emeritus role for the annual Supermarket Management Class.

Thomas S. Haggai Spirit of IGA Award

The Thomas S. Haggai Spirit of IGA Award was presented to Fred Harrison, who began his retail career in a stockroom at age 16 and rose to CEO of Australia's largest independent supermarket group, Ritchies, a company with more than 90 stores, $1.5 billion in annual turnover, and more than $54 million given back to local communities.

Honorary Retailer of the Year Jacket

Jad Pereira, CEO of Unitrade Management Services, received an honorary International Retailer of the Year jacket in recognition of his role bringing the IGA brand back to South Africa and building the retailer network there.

IGA USA Retailer of the Year Awards

Nine U.S. retailers, nominated by IGA's licensed wholesalers as the best among the alliance's 3,600 U.S. retailers, were named 2026 IGA USA Retailers of the Year. Each also received a specialty award recognizing what distinguished their store:

McLamb was later named the 2026 IGA USA International Retailer of the Year, the evening's top U.S. honor.

• Russ and Stephanie Burkholder, Burkholder's Country Market, Spring Mills, Pennsylvania — Local Equals Fresh Award | Supplied by Bozzuto’s Inc.
• Ricky Dow, KJ's Market, Lake City, South Carolina — Empowerment & Inspiration Award | Supplied by W. Lee Flowers
• Kevin and Nicholas Bohman, Pride Family Market, Hanover, Indiana — Pathfinder Award | Supplied by Winkler Wholesale Grocers
• Kelly Gutzwiller and Daren Wood, Versailles, Indiana — Ricky St. John Taking Care of People Award | Supplied by Associated Wholesale Grocers
• Matt Ladnier, Piggly Wiggly, Wiggins, Mississippi — Team Building Award | Supplied by Houchens Food Group
• Brian McGregor, Archie's IGA, St. Mary's, Idaho — Mark Batenic Driving Value Award | Supplied by UNFI
• Jennifer and Tim Bosma, Harvest Market IGA, Fort Bragg, California — People & Planet Stewardship Award | Supplied by C&S Wholesale Grocers
• Mack McLamb, Carlie C's IGA, Louisburg, North Carolina — NRAB Chairman Excellence in Leadership Award | Supplied by MDI
• Jacob and Jason Linnes, Orcas Island Market, Eastsound, Washington — Archie McGregor Quality Without Compromise Award | Supplied by J.B. Gottstein

International Retailers of the Year

IGA also recognized top retailers from its global network, each already named Retailer of the Year in their home country:

Ireland's two winning teams marked the first time a retailer supported by wholesaler Musgrave, which joined the IGA alliance in 2025, has been named an IGA Retailer of the Year.

• Bob Hoy, IGA Gibsons, Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada
• Hassan Hadeed, Real Value Supermarket IGA, Grenada — representing the Caribbean
• Jennilyn Lim Uy, Waltermart Supermarket, Manila, Philippines
• Ismail Salajee, Take 'n Pay Foodtown Arbour Town, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
• Paul Thornton and Ger Jordan, Centra Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland
• Alan Jordan and Sarah O'Reilly, Centra Castletymon, Dublin, Ireland
• Paul, Joseph, and Anthony Romeo, Romeo's Foodland IGA Royal Park, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Red Oval of the Year

IGA awarded two Red Oval Partners with the Red Oval Award for going above and beyond in the past year for independent grocers:

• Red Oval Service Provider of the Year: AppCard
• Red Oval CPG of the Year: The Clorox Company

Centennial Global Rally Business Session

The Awards Gala capped a multi-day Centennial Global Rally that also included a business session September 18 at Coca-Cola Headquarters in Atlanta, themed “The Future Consumer Is Our Consumer.” IGA President and CEO John Ross opened the day with “The State of IGA: A New Era for Independent Grocers,” followed by presentations on consumer and industry trends from Deloitte Chief Futurist Kasey Lobaugh and McKinsey & Company partner Bill Aull. IGA Inc. board members Mark Batenic, Michael Bozzuto, and Metcash Group CEO Doug Jones joined Ross for a panel discussion on the future of independent retail, and Brand Experience Lab co-founder David Polinchock shared global retail trends retailers can use in their own stores.

Additional sessions included a fireside chat between Ross and City of Atlanta Chief of Staff Courtney English on food security and community partnerships; a presentation from Metcash Food (IGA Australia) CEO Grant Ramage; a moderated panel of current and past IGA Retailers of the Year discussing what drives their success; presentation of IGA's Sustainability Award; and a closing keynote from 12-time Obstacle Racing World Champion Nicole Mericle on contending with larger competitors.

Sponsors

The IGA Centennial Global Rally was sponsored by:

DIAMOND SPONSOR: Coca-Cola

GOLD SPONSOR: ScanApps

SILVER SPONSORS: AppCard | BRdata | DUMAC Business Systems | ECRS | LOC Software

BRONZE SPONSORS: Aussie Beef & Lamb | The Clorox Company | Flipp | Houchens Insurance Group | Instacart | Kimberly-Clark | National Pork Board | Nestlé Purina | Nielsen IQ | Watermelon Board

About IGA, Inc.

The Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) was founded in 1926, bringing together independent grocers across the United States to ensure that the trusted, family-owned local grocery store remained strong in the face of growing chain competition. IGA is the world’s largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of over $43 billion per year. The Alliance includes more than 7,500 stores globally, with operations in 46 of the United States and over 25 countries.

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