Top awards
Quality Foods won gold at the Annual Independent Grocer of the Year Awards October 2 in Toronto.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers named Quality Foods in Courtenay’s Driftwood Mall the top grocer in all of Canada. Regionally, the store came out on top in the large store category for BC and the Yukon for the second year in a row, then went on to capture gold at the national awards event.
Nanaimo’s Northridge Village Road Quality Foods’ entry into the Master Merchandiser Awards was the judge’s favourite in the medium store category, winning the gold across Canada. The store went on to win the Platinum Award as the best in all categories across Canada.
All 11 Quality Foods stores received an Award of Merit from judges who visited all applicants across all Canadian provinces and territories. An Award of Merit qualifies a store for further awards.
In 2010, Quality Foods’ Powell River store won the regional award for BC and Yukon and the national bronze.
Hardy Island fire
Provincial fire crews boated to Hardy Island after an explosion and fire broke out Saturday, October 6. The blaze started just after 5 pm in two outbuildings and later spread to the bush.
Donna MacPherson, fire information officer with the Coastal Fire Centre, said a helicopter was diverted to the island to drop some water on the fire, but had to leave when it became dark. The crew stayed on the island overnight and mopped it up on Sunday.
The fire was 0.1 hectare, said MacPherson. “We weren’t able to determine what caused the fire,” she said.
