Those of us lucky enough to live in Utah already know that Tony Caputo is an outstanding retailer. Now, the entire nation knows. --- At the 37th annual sofi (Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation) Awards, sponsored by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT), Tony Caputo's Market & Deli was named Outstanding Retailer of 2009. The sofi Awards are The Oscars of the specialty food trade, so this is a very big deal.

Think about that. Caputo's beat out 2,500 other contenders -- including, presumably, retailers like Dean & Deluca, Sur la Table, Williams-Sonoma, Balducci's, etc. That is quite a feat!

Matt Caputo accepted the award from celebrity chef Ming Tsai saying, "Although we have won many local awards, this is by far the most prestigious award in our industry. However, we will not rest on our laurels now. We have so many upcoming additions to our store, which I know in less than two years will make Caputo's twice as good as it is now."

So, congratulations to Tony, Matt and all the gang at Caputo's.

Here is an interesting video explaining the magnitude of the sofi Awards.