SUPERVALU Named 2005 Wholesaler of the Year

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb 24, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE: SVU) announced today that it has been named 2005 Wholesaler of the Year by PL Buyer magazine, a national publication covering the private label industry.
"SUPERVALU's store brands team works hard to provide consumers with a superior product at the best possible price. Our goal is to make their experience with our products equal to or better than the most popular national brands," said Craig Espelien, SUPERVALU's general director, store brands. "This public recognition of our ongoing efforts is certainly gratifying."

SUPERVALU offers an extensive store brands program to its owned and operated retail chains, as well as to the more than 3,200 retail store customers served on the wholesale side of its business. Brands include Shoppers Value, HomeBest, Cub Foods, Shop 'n Save, Richfood, Flavorite and Healthy Generations.

"Over the past year, SUPERVALU has demonstrated an increased commitment to and innovation in store brands, and for that PL Buyer is proud to recognize SUPERVALU as its 2005 Wholesaler of the Year," said PL Buyer publisher Steven Lichtenstein.

PL Buyer's editorial team, based on its assessment of the national private label market as well as input from industry leaders, chose SUPERVALU as this year's honoree and featured the company in its January 2005 issue. PL Buyer also honored SUPERVALU with the Wholesaler of the Year award in 2003.

"We've renewed our investment in our store brands program with a comprehensive approach and have seen positive results at every level of our organization," said Leland Dake, vice president of merchandising, SUPERVALU distribution food companies. "SUPERVALU's focus on finding out what the customer really wants and developing the best-quality products to fill those needs reaches consumers at every level."