The Produce Marketing Association (PMA) has hosted another successful annual PMA Fresh Summit exhibition and conference event in Atlanta, Georgia, last week.
Attendance at the show, held on 14-17 October, was estimated at 18,500 people from over 50 countries, with more than 200 additional visitors in comparison to last year’s event in Orlando, Florida.
During the show, the PMA unveiled its new look following a rebranding, which it claims symbolises the globalisation of the organisation and its members.
“It is a reflection of what members told PMA they needed and how we are responding,” explained Kelly Koczak, vice-president of marketing at PMA.
As the show kicked off, PMA CEO Bryan Silbermann issued a stark warning for the industry, explaining during his “state of the industry address” that the produce business faces a big challenge in combating foodborne illness outbreaks.
In the wake of the current Listeria outbreak in cantaloupes, Silbermann said the run up to 2011 Fresh Summit event was “eerily similar” to the 2006 show when the E coli outbreak in spinach “hung like a black cloud hung over us”.
Silbermann urged the industry to step up its food safety efforts to prevent further outbreaks; telling delegates that food safety must begin right at the source for every company involved in the business.
He also revealed that more than US$1m has been committed for funding research through the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) – a figure which is hoped to eventually reach up to US$8m and to which PMA is contributing US$400,000 each year.
During his address, Silbermann also touched on the rapid advances in technology, the continued enhancement of Internet-based marketing, and the democratisation of information, as just some of the forces which have ushered in a brand new world for the produce industry.
“Our industry must plant the seeds of new ideas and fuel the innovations and growth that will carry us forward,” Silbermann said.
“The complexity of our supply chain, the sophistication of our consumer and the amplified challenges at the farm make for hard questions and even harder answers.
“Ensuring our future profitability as individual businesses and as an industry requires a fresh outlook in the traditional areas of supply, consumption and marketing.”
PMA also announced its 2011/12 board of directors at the 2011 PMA Fresh Summit and awarded a number of companies for their packaging innovations and booth presentations.
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