VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — New innovations, product availability and sustainability efforts are among the highlights of some of The Packer’s booth visits during the Canadian Produce Marketing Association Conference and Trade Show, April 23-25.
At the Gem-Pack Berries/Well-Pict booth, Michelle Deleissegues and Madu Etchandy said CPMA was the first time both companies exhibited together since the companies’ partnership last year. The companies’ sustainability efforts werere a major topic of conversation for booth visitors.
“We have a lot of sustainability efforts in research and development that are on the horizon that we plan to educate our consumers on,” Deleissegues said.
She said it’s also peak strawberry season for the company.
“We’re shipping out of four districts: Baja, Irvine and Oxnard, Santa Maria and Watsonville, and Salinas,” she said.
The company is also shipping mixed berries including blueberries, blackberries and raspberries from the Pacific Northwest, Georgia and New Jersey.
The arrival of Sun Gold kiwifruit in markets soon was a highlight for visitors to Zespri International Ltd.’s CPMA booth. Debbie Rogers said retailers should see Sun Gold kiwifruit in two weeks.
“We’ll have good volumes to promote this season and have shipper displays available,” she said. “We encourage retailers to work with Zespri for displays.”
Automation and IFCO Systems’ reusable packaging containers were among the highlights for booth visitors.
“There’s so much of a renewed focus on automation and consistent and sturdy RPCs have that aspect to them resonates with the customer,” Nate Klingker said.
Visitors to Stemilt Growers’ booth learned about the company’s good volume of organic apples.
“We’ve got lots of organic to promote through the summer,” Tim Harrington said.
Harrington said the company offers four-pack Artisan Organic apples, snack-size Lil’ Snappers pouches designed for children, bulk apples and 5-pound bags.
Related:
