SEPC 2021: ‘Making the best of a situation that’s getting better’

The Southeast Produce Council is essentially putting on two Southern Exposure shows at once April 6-8: one in person and one online.

The latter, conducted on the SEPC Virtual Garden platform, is almost more familiar these days.

The former is the show that has attendees charged and eager.

“We have realistic expectations about the show and know attendance will be down, but we’re excited for anything at this point,” said Dan Davis, director of business development at Starr Ranch Growers, Wenatchee, Wash. “Normally it’s the highlight of our year.”

Davis and one colleague are flying from the Northwest to attend. This will be the first of any produce industry show he’s attended in person since the most recent SEPC Southern Exposure show, in late February 2020. Many attendees have the same experience.

“It just really is a good group, and they do a great job entertaining the masses and providing a good sense of community,” Davis said. “We need that now more than ever.”

The show is generally a great place to connect with East Coast customers, Davis and other longtime attendees said.

While Davis is in Florida, Starr Ranch will also have staff back at home occupying the virtual booth so that anyone stopping by virtually will have someone to talk to about the company’s new sustainable plastic film packaging and the branded apples, Juici and Koru.

Nash Produce, Nashville, N.C., will have a virtual booth but hadn’t decided by mid-March about sending staff to attend in person.

“Our team has worked hard over the past few weeks to build our virtual booth to include our available products, as well as videos that will give viewers a look into our facilities,” said Rebecca Scott, grower accounting and marketing director.

“We encourage visitors to take a look and see the dedication involved.”

The pandemic has helped the produce industry accelerate its acceptance of communicating with technology, and the SEPC Virtual Garden platform has become part of that, said David Sherrod, SEPC president and CEO.

“There’s always a silver lining, and we’re finding it,” Sherrod said.

Virtual attendees can participate in every event April 6-8, except for the closing session. They can even watch the gala, which will be more like a dinner than the dance of past years. It will be emceed.

“We’ll have a moderator on the virtual platform, who can turn it over to the live event. We have a comedian and tribute Eagles band and aerialist acts they can see. It will be almost like a live dinner show, like an awards show you see on TV,” Sherrod said.

If Nash Produce does send someone to attend in person, there will be also be a team member at the main office in North Carolina monitoring the virtual booth to allow those in Florida to focus more on visiting with people in physical attendance.

“Southern Exposure is one of our favorites of the year, and we always enjoy being able to connect with customers face-to-face ... or should I say mask-to-mask,” Scott said.

Some of the team from DLF International, Fort Pierce, Fla., plan to attend the show in person, said Jordan Feek, director of marketing.

It will be their first in-person show since the pandemic started, and they’re excited about connecting with customers and buyers in real life.

“It’s local for us and more intimate than other shows,” Feek said.

Agenda

The opening education session is “It’s Not Personal ... It’s Generational!” led by Patrick Kelly, host of the Produce Industry Podcast.

From age 23 to 85, five generations will be represented on the panel.

“Patrick Kelly will be quizzing and asking how each generation will approach different work issues, so it will be interesting,” Sherrod said.

Following that is the Power of Produce 2021 education session, led by Rick Stein of Food Marketing Institute and Anne-Marie Roerink of 210 Analytics.

Other events include:

• Tom Page Golf Classic tournament and awards luncheon;
• STARS and STEPP UP dinner;
• STARS breakfast;
• Southern Roots women’s luncheon;
• Produce for Kids reception;
• Opening gala;
• Keynote luncheon;
• Trade show;
• Closing reception at the Dolphin Grotto and beach area; and
• SEPC prayer breakfast.

The show will have its usual events and hoopla but in a very different way.

“We know it’s not going to be as good as years past, but in the past, we’ve been overly pleased with turnout at SEPC, and we want to make sure we continue to support SEPC since it’s such a great organization,” said Kevin Donovan, national sales manager at Phillips Mushroom Farms, Kennett Square, Pa.

“They do things right, that’s for sure. Every year they do something spectacular. They really know how to throw a party.”

Donovan loves to join the golf event, and he appreciates the nice Florida locations for the show, a welcome respite for Northeasterners in winter. The show is usually in February, so it’s quite the draw, he said.

Sherrod knows that dozens of companies aren’t allowing their employees to fly or attend indoor gatherings for work, so he want to have the virtual show for them and the physical show for those who can and feel comfortable attending.

“We’re making the best of a situation that’s getting better. The numbers will be down, and we’re aware of that, but we don’t care about numbers; we don’t measure ourselves by that,” Sherrod said.

“We’ll always measure ourselves by the people who walk away saying ‘I enjoyed that.’”