“We’ve been very fortunate to be recognized by both our customers as well as our industry peers as the best not only locally in our central Pennsylvania marketplace, but also nationally and now internationally,” says Rutter’s CEO.
A panel of industry experts, business leaders and trade publishers has chosen Rutter’s Farm Stores as the 2014 International Convenience Retailer of the Year, marking the first time in the award’s history that an American company has been recognized with the accolade.
The panel considered entries from 14 retailers from three continents before awarding the top prize to Rutter’s. Each entrant was evaluated on criteria such as format innovation, technology, loyalty and payment systems, range of growth in new categories and services, people development and customer service.
Companies from 29 countries and 5 continents were in attendance for the awards ceremony, which took place at the NACS Insight Convenience Summit in London, United Kingdom. National Association of Convenience Stores, NACS, is the international association for convenience and fuel retailing.
“We’ve been very fortunate to be recognized by both our customers as well as our industry peers as the best not only locally in our central Pennsylvania marketplace, but also nationally and now internationally,” said Rutter’s CEO, Scott Hartman, “when you consider the impressive companies that entered, we take great pride in winning such a prestigious award and it feels especially great to know that we’re the first chain to bring this recognition home to the U.S.
Rutter’s has been a household name in central Pennsylvania since its beginning in 1921, when George and Bud Rutter sold their milk products from a horse-drawn wagon. Today, Rutter’s is the oldest vertically-integrated food company in the United States, and led by the family’s 3rd generation of leadership with Scott Hartman as president and CEO, Todd Rutter as president of Rutter’s Dairy and Tim Rutter as president of M&G Realty.