ATLANTA — Vendors in the floral and produce industries filled the Georgia World Congress Center for the International Fresh Produce Association’s Global Produce and Floral Show, Oct. 17-19. As vendors showcased the latest trends and innovations in the produce industry, attendees learned about sustainability initiatives and new products while sampling a variety of fresh produce.
Nash Produce is in its early stages of harvesting its North Carolina sweetpotatoes. Robin Narron said the company supplies these year-round, shipping nationwide in addition to exporting to Mexico, Canada and Europe.
At the expo, Nash featured its Mr. Yam steamable sweetpotatoes available in various packaging options such as tray packs, steamer bags and microwavable bags in addition to conventional and organic 3-pound or 5-pound mesh carry bags.
The company also highlighted murasaki sweetpotatoes with their purple skin and white flesh.
“Right now we’re offering murasaki in bulk, so we have 20- and 40-pound bulk, and we also offer them in the mesh bags,” Narron said.
Michael Chauvet said NatureSweet is excited about the rebranding of its mini peppers under the “very popular Constellation sub-brand that we use for our snacking tomatoes and the introduction of seedless peppers.”
In addition, NatureSweet is launching a new sub-brand called Starlight for mini and baby cucumbers, featuring a more consumer-friendly packaging alternative to traditional foam trays, Chauvet said.
The company is also introducing a medley of cherry tomatoes grown on the vine in Arizona, which will launch nationally in late November, showcasing a unique stackable and flat-sitting package design with three color options.
Fresh produce labeler Sinclair featured its home and industrially compostable labels.
“We work with retailers, packers, producers and repackers to help them brand the fresh produce,” Duncan Jones said.
“We finally achieved our goal of producing a high-performance home compostable label. That’s quite unique, because it’s not only certified home compostable, but also certified industrial compostable,” Jones added.
The label, Jones said, guarantees no environmental impact, biodegrades and turns into usable compost within 365 days.
Jones said Sinclair has partnered with Zespri to transition all its labels to this eco-friendly option over the next year, with ongoing discussions with European and U.S. clients.
Visitors to the Sinclair booth were able to watch a time-lapse video demonstration of the composting process, showing the label’s near-disappearance after 50 days under controlled conditions.
Soli Organic, a California herb company, showcased its new San Antonio facility and product offerings. The company featured new cocktail and lemonade blends, plus roasting and cultured blends for the holidays, as well as a product called Bouquets, which are fresh-cut herbs presented in a floral-type sleeve.
Andrew Shields and Buddy Dalton were excited about the new offerings and said that basil dominates the herbal category at 40%. Shields added that the company aims to engage new consumers with innovative products. The company works to educate consumers and offers recipe ideas and QR codes for user guidance.
For Sun World, it was all about promoting its Autumn Crisp table grape variety, a green, seedless grape that launched last year at the IFPA show, said Elena Hernandez.
“We are a breeder, a technology company, and we create table grape varieties that we license out to a licensing community,” Hernandez said.
Sun World also featured other varieties like Scarlotta, Midnight Beauty and two new green seedless varieties, Applause and Epic, which are now available for retail globally.
Your next read:
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• Seen and heard at IFPA’s Global Produce and Floral Show 2024 — Part 1
• Seen and heard at IFPA’s Global Produce and Floral Show 2024 — Part 2
• Seen and heard at IFPA’s Global Produce and Floral Show 2024 — Part 3
