Associated Grocers CEO to receive Epicurean Society’s 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award

Jay Campbell, president and CEO of Associated Grocers, has been named the 2014 recipient of the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society’s Grace “Mama” Marino Lifetime Achievement Award, officials of the culinary nonprofit announced on Monday.

A dinner honoring Campbell will take place this summer as part of the Epicurean Society’s annual Fęte Rouge.

The award is given to individuals from the Baton Rouge food, beverage and restaurant world who have served the community and helped advance its gastronomic culture.

Campbell has spent his professional career in various capacities at AG, serving as the $675 million company’s president and CEO since 1995. He is credited for guiding the company’s significant expansion.

Based in Baton Rouge, AG has 750 employees and 200 member stores in four states. Local supermarkets including Calandro’s, Calvin’s, LeBlanc’s, Bet-R and other independent grocers are AG members.

Under Campbell’s leadership, AG has also beefed up technical assistance to its members to help increase their competitiveness. The company offers member stores support for accounting, advertising, equipment and design services, marketing, retail technology and procurement and merchandising.

Last month, Campbell earned the Herbert Hoover Award for humanitarian service in the food industry given by the Food Marketing Institute, the national advocacy group for the grocery industry.

Campbell has served on the boards of numerous local organizations, including the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, the General Health Foundation, the Capital Area United Way, the Association of Retarded Citizens and the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.

Campbell is the eighth recipient of the Epicurean Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Previous recipients were Grace “Mama” Marino, T. J. Moran, Frank Bologna, Charles Brandt, Chef John Folse, Tullio Saffiotti and Vince Ferachi.

The Epicurean Society will present the award Thursday, Aug. 21, at a special seven-course dinner held at L’Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge prepared in Campbell’s honor by local chefs. The event kicks off Fęte Rouge, the Epicurean Society’s annual culinary weekend.

For more information on the event and to buy tickets, click here.