having opened our meatshop last year, jon and i had the opportunity to attend the 3rd Monterey Franchisees Convention which was held at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila last December 4, 2007. the highlight of the convention was the awarding of the BLADE AWARDS to deserving Monterey Neighborhood Meatshops (NMS) throughout the country. the awards included five (5) awards in the following categories: "Rookie of the Year", "Best in Customer Service", "Best in Sales", "Best in MVP Promotion", "Best in Food Safety Management" and the top award called "The TOP BLADE Award" which encompasses every aspect of the above.
being only 6 months in operation during last year's awards night, we were not qualified for any of the awards.....so we just enjoyed watching the affair.
last night, we attended the 4th Monterey Franchisees Convention at the Crowne Plaza Galleria. to our surprise, our very own Monterey Meatshop Kapitolyo was nominated for three (3) awards: "Rookie of the Year 2007" (out of 36 new meatshops that opened last year); "Best in Food Safety Management 2007" (out of more or less 140 meatshops); and the granddaddy of it all..... "The TOP BLADE"!!!
we didn't win the "Rookie of the Year 2007" since apparently the new meatshop in Tacloban, Leyte posted the greatest monthly sales for last year; but we won 1st runner-up for the "Best in Food Safety Management 2007"..... (the winner being the meatshop in Tuguegarao).
for me though, the greater honor was being nominated for "The TOP BLADE" award because as what the presenter said last night, our being nominated was "phenomenal" because for the first time a meatshop that has only been in operation less than a year was nominated..... whereas the other 4 nominees have been opened for at least 5 years..... one being in operation for 12 years now...... and 2 nominees being company-owned!!!
"The TOP BLADE 2007" award went to the meatshop in Tuguegarao who's received this award, plus 3 of 5 of the other awards, for 3 consecutive years now..... thus, it was announced that it has been elevated to the Monterey Hall of Fame.
this leaves the awards open to all the other meatshops for 2008 (except of course the "Rookie of the Year")!...........