Progresiv Awards 2020 has selected its winners! | Progresiv
The wait is over! We're announcing the winners of the 2020 Progresiv Awards. It's a project started to showcase successful people, companies, brands, and projects from the FMCG industry, and the pandemic will not prevent us from showing gratitude to those who contribute to the development of the industry and the trendsetters in retail & FMCG. We would have loved and would have been honored to present the trophies during the event you're all accustomed to, but we are fully committed to respecting the decisions taken by the authorities regarding the safety measures and are using all Progresiv channels to be close to you. 
This year's edition brought 4 new awards categories: Best Retail Tech Innovation, Best New Beverage, Best Vertically Integrated Business, and Best Sustainability Initiative.
The decision to expand the range of categories came after the year-by-year evolution seen in retail&FMCG. To impartially cover all areas of interest, we have decided to also bring new jury members that would focus on CSR and sustainability. Dragoș Tuță, Founder & Managing Partner, The CSR Agency, Dragoș Popa, Senior Project Manager, Roland Berger România, Alina Liciu, Founder & Managing Partner The Azores Sustainability & The CSR Agency, and Dumitru Borțun, Professor at SNSPA all joined the Progresiv team to deliberate on the projects that were nominated for Best CSR Campaign and Best Sustainability Initiative.
Regarding the projects for Best CSR Campaign, we prioritized donations and sponsorships campaigns created by retail & FMCG players alongside NGOs or initiative groups, that contributed to achieving one or more of the 17 objectives of sustainable development set by the UN on its 2030 Agenda.
In the Best Sustainability Initiative category, we targeted business or management initiatives that generated a quantifiable positive impact or reduced the negative impact brought by the company's interaction with its stakeholders: clients, end consumers, suppliers, employees, NGOs, or surrounding environment.
The award for Best CSR Campaign was won by Unilever South Central Europe's campaign „Domestos susține igiena în școli”. As for the Best Susteinability Initiative category, the voters chose Kaufland România's „Consumul excesiv de pungi dăunează grav comunității.”
This year's edition also focused on retail technology projects, one of the new categories included. After the votes were counted, the award for Best Retail Tech Innovation was won by „Supermarketul Inteligent Mega Image”.
As a new feature, Progresiv Awards 2020 has divided the award "Best Independent Retailer" on a regional basis. In other words, Best Independent Retailer will now be given to players in Muntenia, Moldova, and Transilvania.
There's also a new category dedicated to virtually integrated business models, Best Vertically Integrated Business, opened to local entrepreneurs that have developed both production and retail operations by creating or expanding their chain store.
Best Independent Retailer has three winners for this year's edition: Annabella was named Best Independent Retailer in Muntenia, while Paco Supermarkets took the title for Moldova and Sergiana won the most votes for Transilvania. This isn't the only trophy won by the Brașov-based family business, as the company was voted by its business partners as the best example of integrating production and retail. Therefore, the first Best Vertically Integrated Business trophy goes to Sergiana Grup.
Mega Image won the largest number of votes in the Best International Retailer category. As such, although at a small distance from the next finalists, the company takes the trophy for the fifth consecutive year.
The Progresiv Awards trophy for Best FMCG Supplier was won by Coca-Cola HBC, while Cocoșelul de Pădure by Agricola was named Best New Food Product. Farmec won in the Best New Non-Food Product with its Gerovital Men range - "produsele de îngrijire pentru bărbați sub formă de fiole".
In the Best New Beverage category, the winner was Heineken's Strongbow Rose Apple. The beer producer also won in the Best Shopper Activation category for "Zero Zone by HEINEKEN România".
Last but not least, after a tight battle, the winner of the Best Manager of the Year category is Raul Ciurtin, founder of Prefera Foods.
Progresiv Awards had three stages: nominations and self-nominations (by industry specialists), validation of the nominees and selecting the finalists (by the Council of Specialists), and voting. The last stage implied a cross-voting system: the awards for suppliers were given based on the votes cast by retailers, while the ones given to retailers was based on votes coming from suppliers. Voting was only available through unique hyperlinks, guaranteeing that a person can only vote once.
As usual, Ipsos România served as research partner for Progresiv Awards.
The members of Progresiv Awards 2020 Council of Specialists were: Iulia Pencea, Managing Director, Nielsen România, Gabriela Luca, Commercial Director Consumer Panel Services GfK, Alina Stepan, Cluster Head, Ipsos South-East Europe, Sorana Georgia, Director General, Markant International Services România, Cătălina Aldea, Managing Partner Aldea Consulting, Dragoș Popa, Senior Project Manager Roland Berger România, Mihai Bonca, Founder Brand Architects. The Progresiv team was represented by Alina Dragomir, Coordinating Editor, and Mihaela Popescu, Editor In Chief.
We'd like to thank all those involved in this project, the retailers and suppliers that submitted 2019's successful projects, the Council of Specialists, and those that have cast their votes.
Congratulations to all Progresiv Awards 2020 winners!
The final standings:
BEST INTERNATIONAL RETAILER
Winner: Mega Image
• Carrefour România
• Kaufland România
• Lidl România
• Profi Rom Food
BEST INDEPENDENT RETAILER
Muntenia
Winner: Annabella
• Diana
• Euromarket
Moldova
Winner: Paco Supermarkets
Băcăniile Șerban
Ovisim Supermarket
Transilvania
Winner: Sergiana
Elan Trio
CBA Nord - Vest
BEST FMCG SUPPLIER
Winner: Coca-Cola HBC România
• Ursus Breweries
• Olympus (Fabrica de lapte Brașov)
• Unilever South Central Europe
• Farmec
BEST NEW FOOD PRODUCT
Winner: Cocoșelul de Pădure - Agricola
• Toortitzi cu ciocolată - Alka Group
• Gama Jacobs Specialități - JDE
• Danonino, 70 grame - Danone PDPA
• Gama Supa de Azi - Prefera Foods
BEST NEW NON-FOOD PRODUCT
Winner: Fiole Gerovital Men - Farmec
• Lenor Detergent - Procter&Gamble
• Cif Nature’s Recipe – Unilever SCE
• Balsam de rufe Sano Maxima - România
• Loncolor Expert HEMPStyle – Papillon Laboratoires Cosmetiques
BEST NEW BEVERAGE
Winner: Strongbow Rose Apple – HEINEKEN România
• Olympus Ceai de la Munte – Fabrica de lapte Brașov
• Vinars Zarea 1912 XO – Zarea
• Bucur Bere de Bulevard - URBB
• Cappy Lemonade – Coca Cola HBC
BEST SHOPPER ACTIVATION
Winner: Zero Zone – HEINEKEN România
• National Retail Story Telling Project – Heidi Chocolat
• Summer Respiro Moments – Ursus Breweries
• „O garanție de calitate. Alege vinurile recomandate de Auchan și vinul.ro” – Auchan Retail România
• Produsul de aur – Pronto Mobile (francizat Carrefour)
BEST RETAIL TECH INNOVATION
Winner: Supermarketul inteligent Mega Image
• Plata cu amprentă biometrică – Auchan Retail
• Aplicația de shopper Selgros
• Tokinomo
• Proteus Smart Display
BEST VERTICALLY INTEGRATED BUSINESS
Winner: Sergiana
• Farmec
• Annabella
• Diana
• Ocean Fish
BEST CSR CAMPAIGN
Winner: Domestos susține igiena în școli – Unilever SCE
• „După noi, strângem tot noi” – Coca Cola HBC
• Caravana „România fără gluten” – Kaufland România
BEST SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE
Winner: Consumul excesiv de pungi dăunează grav comunității – Kaufland
• Banca pentru alimente – Lidl România
• Programul economic „O șansă pentru familia ta” - Danone
• Implementarea soluției ECA Water în fabrica din Ploiești – Coca – Cola Ploiești
BEST MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Raul Ciurtin – proprietarul Prefera Foods
• Marco Hoessl – CEO Kaufland România
• James Simmons – CEO Unilever SCE
• Vanya Panayotova – GM L’Oreal România & Adria-Balkans
• Eliodor Apostolescu – proprietarul PhoenixY
