TAMPA, Fla. — The Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure 2024 event featured opportunities to explore new products and innovations in the fresh produce industry, as seen in this latest series of virtual booth visits captured by The Packer.
Rochelle Bohm, vice president of marketing at CMI Orchards, talked about The Soil Center, which the company recently launched with Royal Family Farming.
“We’re capturing byproducts throughout our orchards and operations integrating with cattle and also worms to deliver soil amendments to reduce our resilience on synthetic fertilizers in our orchard operations and work towards a carbon negative future,” Bohm said.
Jeff Stepanovich, sales representative for Florida Specialties, said among the highlights of the company’s SEPC booth were its corn, green beans, green and yellow squash, eggplant and bell peppers.
“We’ve been in business ... since 1969, and hopefully we’ll continue to be around for a little bit longer, too,” he said.
Ken Paglione, sales account manager for Mucci Farms, said the company’s SEPC display highlighted some of its snacking offerings with its Veggies to Go line, which includes tomatoes and snacking cucumbers in separate containers.
“That’s a unique offering,” he said. “We have a smaller retail pack just bundled as a three-piece. It’s the perfect size. It’s approximately 4 ounces.”
Paglione said the 4-ounce portion is perfect for children.
