Record buyer attendance on track for IFPA Foodservice Conference

The International Fresh Produce Association’s Foodservice Conference will have the highest buyer participation in 42 years with over 800 buyers, according to a news release.

 For the first time, this year’s July 28-29 conference will include a significant group of  K-12 school foodservice menu planners, chefs and procurement officials. 

“K-12 school buyers are an important and unique group of attendees that we are excited to have joining us at this year’s Foodservice Conference,” Andrew Marshall, IFPA’s staff liaison for wholesaler-distributor members and team lead for engagement with the K-12 school nutrition community, said in the release. “These foodservice professionals plan daily menus for the next generation of produce consumers. They want to see new products; talk to growers, fresh-cut processors and distributors; and discuss how best to source, serve and promote fresh produce on their menus."

Every day, 31 million children participate in the National School Lunch Program. Students must be offered a fruit and a vegetable, and they are also required to exit the lunch line with a serving of produce on their plate, the release said.

Schools are looking to offer entree salads, fresh vegetable side dishes, grab n’ go fruit and veggies, and some are returning to self-serve salad bars, the release said. Besides the lunch meal, many schools also offer breakfast, in-class fresh fruit and vegetable snacks, and an after-school, weekend and summer meal program.

The K-12 attendees at this year’s Foodservice Conference will include school districts in California and local to Monterey. IFPA will also host school nutrition directors from major-city K-12 school districts from across the country as part of the association’s “K-12 School Foodservice Forum” program. Leading sponsors of the forum include Grimmway Farms, the Healthy Family Project, PRO*ACT and Taylor Farms, the release said.

As part of the program, school menu planners will have the opportunity to network with members of the produce industry, tour local farms to better understand how produce gets from field to fork and participate in a debrief that will provide feedback and shared resources to help strengthen the partnerships between the industry and K-12 schools in the future, according to the release.