Face to face again: CPMA ready for first in-person convention in 2 years

It’s “back to basics” this year for the Canadian Produce Marketing Association’s 96th annual convention and trade show, set for April 5-7 at the Palais des Congres in Montreal, Quebec.

That’s what CPMA President Ron Lemaire says of the association’s first in-person event in two years. The convention will also be one of the first major face-to-face gatherings in Canada, “for our industry and many others,” Lemaire said, giving added significance to this year’s theme of “The Industry Reunited.”  

“It’s very apropos and relative to reopening and trying to get everybody reengaged,” he said. 

With the event canceled during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and held virtually in 2021, the goal this time around in terms of program offerings was to stick with a tried-and-true formula that hasn’t let the association down yet.  

“Because we haven’t met for two years, we wanted to make sure we delivered a sound program, so we got back to basics. We’re delivering our event in the success that we’ve always experienced,” Lemaire said. “There’s not going to be any massive surprises.” 

The convention lineup includes business sessions on cyber security and sustainability; a trade show with over 270 exhibitors scheduled to attend; an interactive Passion for Produce training program that allows industry members to learn more about the supply chain and fresh produce industry; and a Women in Produce reception. A welcome reception on the first night of the convention will be held in Montreal’s historic St-James Theatre. Now an event venue, the theater was built more than a century ago and formerly housed the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, according to the theater’s website.

Learning Lounges, designed to be “quick pods of information” about 30 minutes in length, Lemaire said, will be scheduled throughout the event. Learning Lounge topics will include:

• Future Growth — Changing Production in Produce;
• Innovation — Everything Is on the Table;
• Sustainability in Packaging — The Art of the Possible; 
• Growing in Produce;
• Women in Produce — Their Produce Story; and 
• Supply Chain Disruptions — A Buyer’s Perspective.

And “hold on to your socks,” Lemaire said, for this year’s keynote speaker, Nick Bontis, director of strategic management consulting firm Institute for Intellectual Capital Research and a professor of strategic management at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Bontis has won numerous teaching awards and is a 3M National Teaching Fellow, “an exclusive honor for top university professors in Canada and considered the ‘Nobel Prize’ of teaching,” according to CPMA. 

“The industry is going to have their hands full with the energy and just the sheer drive that Nick brings to his presentation,” Lemaire said of Bontis, who is also an author of “Information Bombardment: Rising Above the Digital Onslaught” and an associate editor of the Journal of Intellectual Content, according to CPMA. “He’ll be able to give tangible value to business owners, to marketers, to sales, to anyone running a business in produce around how do you actually build and drive a business? What are the key attributes you need in this business to be successful?”

As always, a number of awards will be presented during the convention, including for Young Professional, the CPMA Lifetime Achievement Award and The Packer’s 2022 Canadian Produce Person of the Year Award. Last year’s Canadian Produce Person of the Year honor went to Larry McIntosh, who retired in 2021 but was president and CEO of Peak of the Market in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for 27 years.

Related: Larry McIntosh to receive the 2021 Canadian Produce Person of the Year 

CPMA will also carry on its annual tradition of raising funds during the convention for food banks. This year, CPMA is partnering with Moisson Montreal, a charitable, nonprofit organization and member of Food Banks Canada and Food Banks of Quebec, according to the organization’s website, moissonmontreal.org. 

“We’ve historically donated well over 50,000 pounds of produce,” Lemaire said.

Having been with CPMA since 1998, Lemaire has a lot of convention experience under his belt. But it wasn’t hard for him to narrow down what his favorite parts of the event have been over the years.

“The biggest thing that I’ve recognized over the years that I’ve come is the community and the relationships that are built,” Lemaire said. “It is truly an event that brings together opportunities to build your business, but it also brings back existing relationships and reconfirms and solidifies the business that exists.” 

Similar to previous years, this year’s convention is expected to draw 3,500-4,000 attendees, according to Lemaire, who said he was really looking forward to “just seeing people again.” While successful in its own right, last year’s virtual event didn’t have those in-person benefits of “being present, meeting the buying community, showcasing your product, building a relationship and trust both ways,” he said. 

The pandemic is still at play, however, and organizers aren’t taking that lightly, Lemaire said. 

“It’s exciting, but at the same time … we’re always navigating and making sure we’re trying to create the safest and most engaging event possible,” he said, noting that there would be space enough for social distancing and that “we will be doing some creative things around how do we bring everyone together” safely.

On March 12, the Quebec government lifted nearly all COVID-19 restrictions, including vaccine passport requirements outside of international travel, leaving only mask mandates in place. According to a report from the Montreal Gazette, most mask mandates are expected to be lifted in April.   

Still, CPMA organizers will be monitoring the situation closely, Lemaire said.

“We will be following provincial requirements and venue requirements as they are changed,” he said. 

More information, including registration, nearby lodging and COVID-19 travel and entry requirements can be found at convention.cpma.ca.