Gus Longo, founder of Longo Bros. to receive Golden Pencil Award

Gus Longo, founder of Longo Brothers Fruit Markets, in Vaughan, Ont., is a recipient of the grocery industry’s highest honour, the 2015 Golden Pencil Award.

The annual award is presented by the Food Industry Association of Canada and recognizes efforts of both buy and seller in developing and improving the Canadian food industry.

Longo’s is a family-owned Canadian organization that started in 1956 when three brothers, Tommy, Joe and Gus opened their first fruit market.

It was a small 1,500 square foot store on Yonge Street (at Castlefield) in Toronto. The family maintained a commitment to providing customers with the best fresh food experience possible. All these years later, this philosophy remains the heart and soul of our company.

Gus Longo’s brother Joe died in 2008 and Tommy in 2011; today the business is being carried on by the third generation . In total there are 17 members of the family, including spouses, working full time in the company.

The third generation has begun working its way up the company ladder, without it seems, getting into the kind of nasty family arguments that can ruin an empire.

Today, Longo’s operates full service grocery stores across the GTA as well as www.GroceryGateway.com, the leader in online sales of home-delivered groceries. Longo’s employs more than 5,000 team members and offers an environment where people have the opportunity to be the best that they can be.