​Be sure to add the Iowa Best Bagger Contest to your State Fair To-Do List
 
DES MOINES, Iowa – Make plans to cheer on your favorite grocery bagger during the Iowa Best Bagger Competition at the Iowa State Fair, Friday, August 11. Always a crowd pleaser, the fun, free event delivers plenty of excitement as baggers do their best to build balanced bags, avoid crushing loaves of bread and breaking eggs, and do it faster than the competition.
 
The annual Iowa Best Bagger Contest, hosted by the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, takes place annually at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. The competition will begin at 1 p.m. on the stage of the Susan Knapp Amphitheater, located on Grand Ave., east of the grandstand and midway just past the Animal Learning Center on the north side of the street.  

Waupaca WI – Bernatello’s Pizza, Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of frozen pizza, has announced the acquisition of Festive Foods, LLC out of Waupaca, WI. Owned and operated by Mike Holmgren since 2008, they were a trusted co-packer of frozen pizzas.
 
“The acquisition will allow us to continue our aggressive growth plan, adding capacity, along with new and exciting innovation. We’d like to thank Mike Holmgren and team for their efforts and perseverance in building a new facility after a devastating fire in June of 2022. We are very excited to welcome the Festive team to the Bernatello’s Family.” stated Chad Schultz, President of Bernatello’s.
 
Bernatello’s Pizza, Inc currently operates a plant in Kaukauna, WI and Maple Lake, MN, producing over 60 million pizzas annually under the brands of Brew Pub Lotzza Motzza, Bellatoria, Roma, Orv’s and Pizza Corner. Owned and operated by the Ramsay Family since 1982.
 
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NEWS RELEASE (Hull, IA) – Fareway Stores, Inc. plans to construct an approximately 10,600 square foot store at the southwest corner of Highway 18 and Division Street in Hull. Construction is planned to begin in late summer 2023, with a tentative opening in spring 2024.

​Iowa SBA Minority Small Business Champion of the Year
Taufeek Shah, CEO, Lola’s Fine Sauces, Inc.
 
Taufeek Shah was working in corporate finance back in 2015 when he brought his mother’s hot sauce in for a company food day and was told by his co-workers it was the best hot sauce they’d ever had. Shah’s mother,  Carmelita “Lola” Shah, entrusted her secret hot sauce recipe to him and Shah rented out a commercial kitchen to begin making Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce and selling it in local markets. Today, Lola’s Fine Hot Sauces, as well as other Lola’s branded products, can be found in over 10,000 retailers and restaurants throughout North America.

Prairie Farms Sweeps Cottage Cheese Category - Small Curd 2% Cottage Cheese voted ‘Best of Class’

​EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (February 27, 2023) – The 21st biennial United States Championship Cheese Contest, a technical competition for cheese, butter, and yogurt makers, was held in Green Bay, Wisconsin last week. A team of technical judges from across the country met for three days to evaluate the best U.S. cheeses from dozens of manufacturers on a variety of technical merits, including flavor, body, texture, salt, color, finish, and packaging. After all the votes were counted, Prairie Farms received eight top cheese awards and swept the cottage cheese category.

NEWS RELEASE (Boone) – Fareway CEO Reynolds W. Cramer recently announced corporate promotions, including the following officer promotions:

Aaron Irlbeck
Senior Vice President – Campus Operations
 
Aaron Irlbeck joined Fareway in June of 1992. Aaron’s career with Fareway began as a part-time employee at the Carroll, Iowa location, followed by stops in Storm Lake, Iowa and Urbandale, Iowa, where he was promoted to assistant store manager. In 2005, Aaron was promoted to a buying position in Fareway’s corporate office in Boone, Iowa, and held various management roles within the buying department before being promoted to senior vice president in 2018. In 2019, he was promoted to senior vice president of digital commerce, leading eCommerce sales and the online shopping team.

Incentives will help SNAP households purchase more fruits and vegetables

Washington, D.C., Jan. 19, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, or FNS, is improving access to fruits and vegetables by expanding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, healthy incentive initiatives. This year, FNS will select up to three states to receive funding and support to run an Electronic Healthy Incentives Pilot, or eHIP, for SNAP participants in their state.

Incentive programs encourage SNAP recipients to purchase healthy foods by providing a coupon, discount, gift card, bonus food items or extra funds when they buy specific foods, such as fruits and vegetables. These projects improve food and nutrition security by making it easier for SNAP households to access the healthy foods we all need for optimal health and well-being. 

Information provided by Iowa Department of Revenue
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GovConnectIowa is the State of Iowa’s user-friendly and self-service portal to register or renew certain business licenses and permits, file tax returns and reports, make payments, and more. With the second rollout of the multi-year effort to simplify processes for taxpayers, the Iowa Department of Revenue and partnering agencies will present changes to GovConnectIowa.

This information has been provided to the IGIA and its members by FMI — The Food Industry Association.

Changes are coming to SNAP benefits and the new Summer EBT program as a result of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. The SNAP emergency allotments (EAs) will end nationwide after the February 2023 benefit month. That means in March 2023, SNAP benefit amounts will be returning to normal for all SNAP households (with the exception of South Carolina, which is ending emergency allotments after January 2023 issuance, so their SNAP benefits return to normal in February).