A lot of organizations are touting their return to in-person events this year following the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the Mission-based Texas International Produce Association was ahead of the game.
TIPA reinstated its annual live Viva Fresh Expo last March — albeit a scaled-down version.
This year’s show, set for April 21-23, will be very similar to pre-pandemic expos, said Dante Galeazzi, president and CEO.
“Last year, we held the event, but we had to make a lot of changes,” he said. “We took a lot of health and safety concerns into account when we built the show and designed it around that.”
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The 2021 edition of Viva Fresh was the first major produce show to come back, he said.
“The way we looked at it was, COVID-19 is not going away, so we had to figure out a way to do business in the new era,” Galeazzi said. “We decided that we were going to take all the health and safety measures into account that we could while recognizing that we had to find a way for business to continue, because life had to continue.”
Numerous safety protocols were implemented to ensure the safety of visitors.
Booths were spaced 3 feet apart, aisles were extra wide, attendance was limited for many events, masks were required for some activities, sanitation was beefed up, and there were temperature checks and on-site testing for the virus.
“We did all kinds of things because we wanted to find a way forward in the new world,” Galeazzi said.
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Reaction from those who attended was predominantly positive.
“People were very excited,” Galeazzi said. “We had a lot of people who were very impressed with the safety protocols, but more importantly, they were impressed with the fact that we were able to hold the show.”
Attendance will be back up to about 2,200 when this year’s expo takes place April 21-23 in Grapevine, Texas.
That’s an increase from last year’s 1,250 attendance total.
Many safety protocols will still be in effect.
Masks and face shields will be available for those who want them, hand sanitation stations will be spread throughout the venue and professional sanitization will be conducted throughout the hotel and other locations.
The colored lanyard system, with red, yellow and green badges, will be brought back from last year, “so folks will know what different people’s interaction comforts are,” Galeazzi said.
“We wanted to find a way forward while recognizing COVID as a concern,” he said. “But life has to continue, business has to continue and people have got to eat, and we want fresh produce to be part of those meals.”
