Andrew George, senior director of sales at EarthFresh, based in Burlington, Ontario, and College Park, Ga., shares with GOPEX attendees that his company's organic division uses organic, compostable bags "even the mesh," he says about the potato packaging. "We're trying to reduce plastic, and the other cool thing is it's naturally light-blocking, so it protects the potatoes from greening, and it checks all the boxes for sustainability. Retailers are seeing great growth by switching to paper," he said. The Global Organic Produce Expo was Jan. 31-Feb. 2 in Hollywood, Fla.
James Fountain, produce salesman for the West region for Wholly Guacamole, a brand from MegaMex Foods, Orange, Calif., shares at GOPEX about the mashed and sliced avocado products his company is now offering. "Value-added didn't go down during the pandemic, for avocados," he said.
Stephen Paul (from left), category director for blueberries and tree fruit at Homegrown Organic Farms, Porterville, Calif., chats with Myles Chasser, organic buyer from Four Seasons Produce, Ephrata, Pa., and Parker Anderson of Homegrown at GOPEX. "We became an employee-owned company in 2021," Paul said about Homegrown, which grows citrus, stonefruit and fall specialties, with farms and packing facilities in Oregon and California. All of the company's tree fruit growers are certified by the Equitable Food Initiative, which addresses labor conditions, food safety and pest management.
Nick Rodriguez Puentes of Logistics Dynamics (from left), Jorge Rodriguez Villamarin of Logistics Dynamics, Jonathan Najar of Gonzalez Quality Fruits & Vegetables and Arturo "AJ" Jimenez of Trufresh chat at GOPEX. Based in Nogales, Ariz., Trufresh is adding organic lemons to its program, Jimenez said. "Because of the trend of citrus and the high demand it has on the organic side, we're trying to offer everything our customers want," he said. The grower-owned company's organic brand is Llano, and its conventional brand is Malichita.
Eric McClam, owner of City Roots Organic Farm, Columbia, S.C., exhibits his microgreens for the first time at GOPEX. Formed in 2009, the company just bought a new site and is building another greenhouse that will be 75,000 square feet. The original farm is 2.5 acres in downtown Columbia. The company began as a farm serving farmers markets and community supported agriculture groups (CSAs) and has since focused on microgreens "because it's scalable, flavorful, beautiful and fun," McClam said.
Daniel Montes of Control Union (from left), and Nuri Castro, Ricardo Crisantes and Kristina Luna, all of Wholesum, Nogales, Ariz., chat as the show shuts down. Castro gave GOPEX attendees taste tests of bell peppers and Italian peppers as a trial. After the taste test, participants answered a 3-question survey on a tablet, and then won a travel-sized bottle of tequila or vodka. It looked like more people liked the Italian pepper, which has a higher Brix (sugar) content than the traditional bell pepper.
The guitar hotel was the most notable building at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, where GOPEX '22 was held Jan. 31-Feb. 2.
Every evening, the Guitar Hotel had a light show at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., the location of GOPEX '22.
The Global Organic Produce Expo Jan. 31-Feb. 2 offered two BizMatch sessions, which set up one-on-one meetings between buyers and suppliers.
Mixing business with pleasure is a great option at GOPEX. Many attendees enjoyed the balmy, tropical outdoors while they worked or held meetings.
The opening reception at GOPEX featured a cocktail party with '80s cover band Flashback Heart Attack, which got the crowd dancing.
The palm trees provided a nice backdrop to the business at hand during GOPEX '22.
The palm trees and waterfall provided a nice backdrop to the second cocktail reception during GOPEX '22.
