Seen and heard at New England Produce Council Expo — Part 2
EVERETT, Mass. — For retailers, the late-August timing of the 2023 New England Produce Council Produce, Floral & Foodservice Expo was right when the back-to-school season was kicking into high gear.
For growers, the timing was the calm before the storm of the fall harvest. And for everyone in between, the annual show signaled that the industry's slight summer lull was over.
"It's a good way to kick off the trade show season," said Trish James, chief marketing officer for Reidsville, Ga.-based Shuman Farms and vice president of Orlando, Fla.-based Healthy Family Project and its Produce for Kids program. "This show is a good balance of casual and work: It's fun and casual, and you can get good conversations."
The council shook things up a bit by headlining the keynote breakfast with a comedian.
"We thought it was a great way to start the day with laughter. It was a risk the committee was willing to take, and I think it paid off," said NEPC Executive Director Laura Sullivan.
The location of the Encore Boston Harbor Resort and Casino was near the New England Produce Center, which was convenient for the local industry members. And the resort itself contained so much entertainment and dining that people appreciated the ease of everything — including lodging and conference activities — all in one place.
The new Produce and Floral Manager Leadership Program was and sponsored by Coast to Coast Produce, in memory of Petter Sticco.
Related: Produce, floral managers at NEPC show explore a higher purpose
"We hope to develop more on that, maybe more sessions or a tour," Sullivan said. The show had more preregistered attendees than in 2022, she said.
Check out the final installment of booth news and views.
Shawn Hamilton of Minneapolis-based So Good So You talked about the 14 flavors of functional juice shots sold at retailer produce department refrigerators. While immunity-boosting shots do well, energy shots are the fastest growing function shoppers demand, he said.
"It's a clean energy option in the produce department, bringing that shopper over," Hamilton said. "The energy category is doing extremely well across the store, but it doesn't exist as much in the produce department."
The company is a woman-owned business that's B Corp Certified.
Kevin Royce and Justin Levesque of Affinity Sales showed the latest salad green offerings from indoor grower Bright Farms, based in Irvington, N.Y., just north of New York City. The company has farms in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Illinois and North Carolina.
Related: Packer Insight: Paul Lightfoot of Bright Farms on 'negative foods,' CEA food safety
Just to the left of the registration desk sat stacks of the latest PMG magazine, a publication by The Packer for produce retailers. The July-August issue's feature story focuses on how retailers are doing more foodservice and what role produce plays.
See: The digital issue is available here.
John Cushing and Michael Harwood represented New York Apple Sales, which goes by the tagline: Yes! Apples.
As expected of this agricultural state with that far-south apple-famous city, "we're looking forward to a great apple season," Harwood said.
Related: Seen and heard at New England Produce Council Expo — Part 1
