You could say Will and Ingrid Willemsen are enjoying the fruits of their labours.
The Sarnia Sunripe store at Lakeshore and Murphy, which they founded in 1982, has been chosen the best specialty food store in Canada for 2011.
The Willemsens received the Dave Parsons Gold Award for Excellence from the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIGT) at a black tie gala recently. The event is described as the Academy Awards of food retailing and speaks to the Willemsens’ knack for store merchandising, customer service, food safety and innovation.
The federation has more than 4,000 grocery retailers across Canada.
Dave Delchario, past chair of the CFIG, explained why Sunripe won gold. “Food retailing has become fiercely competitive but innovative retailers like Will and Ingrid continue to thrive,” he said. “Will and Ingrid continue to drive innovation to world class levels.”
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