Seen and heard at SEPC’s Southern Exposure
ORLANDO, Fla. — It was a trekked out scene at this year’s Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure, which featured a "Produce: The Final Frontier" theme. Held March 2-4 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, the annual event brought together fresh produce professionals from across the supply chain.
Soli Organic’s Veronica Morales and Steve Wright talked “bringing the outdoors in” with its line of controlled environment agriculture (CEA)-grown greens, including Baby Spinach, Cool Greens and Crisp Romaine, set to launch this July. The greens have a minimum of a 21- to 30-day shelf life.
Morales and Wright also shared that Soli Organic is currently developing five indoor ag facilities around the country. The first to open is located in Anderson, S.C., and has the capacity to produce 5 million pounds of greens a year.
Jay Alley, Kristyn Lawson and Tara Murray of sampled Yo Quiero’s chunky guacamole and new Bean Dip in spicy and original. The Fresh Innovations brand seeks to be a one-stop shop for dips, says Lawson.
To mark its 130th anniversary, Sunkist has created attention-grabbing POP displays that celebrate its growers. The displays invite shoppers to “meet the grower” through a QR code.
“The No. 1 most important thing a citrus shopper wants to know is how the fruit was grown and picked,” said Sunkist Director of Global Marketing Christina Ward.
Related: Sunkist marks 130 years as grower-owned cooperative
Ricardo Echeverri and Diego Villegas of Fyffes North America, Coral Gables, Fla., discussed increasing consumer demand for tropical items like cassava or yuca and plantains. “The tropical business in the U.S. is growing,” said Echeverri, vice president of tropicals, who sees Hispanic, Asian and African demographics driving that demand.
The wait for California strawberries, the harvest of which was slowed by heavy rains early in the season, will soon be over, said Jim Grabowski, director of marketing for the Watsonville, Calif.-based Well-Pict. “By mid-March berries from California will be back in full swing,” he said.
Related: Rains hinder early season picking for Southern California strawberries
