In this month’s profile on the Produce Marketing Association, the US trade association for fruit and vegetables, the Journal takes a look back on Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition 2004, the most successful in the PMA’s long history.
Following its well-attended Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition in 2003, the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) built upon that success and drew a new record of 17,300 attendees to its recent Fresh Summit 2004 in Anaheim, California.
In addition to breaking the previous year’s attendance mark of 16,350, the Fresh Summit Exposition was again sold out, with more than 800 exhibitors participating from 26 countries. PMA’s Fresh Summit 2004 was October 15-19 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
New PMA chairman of the Board Steve Junqueiro, vice president of operations for Save Mart Supermarkets, Modesto, California, underscored PMA’s commitment to meeting its members’ needs. “PMA will continue to make its voice heard in Washington - and everywhere else that decisions are made affecting the produce industry. The industry has a message of great taste, convenience, diversity, safety - and of course health - that needs to be heard by every consumer in every market,” he said.
Junqueiro added that PMA will continue to ensure that its members receive real business solutions to supply chain challenges like food safety and security, traceability, industry standards, and logistics. Other highlights from Fresh Summit 2004 included:
• The launch of new, safe produce handling messages for consumers by PMA and the Partnership for Food Safety Education.
• The debut of the PMA Advantage: Nutrition Labels program, where PMA members can purchase discounted nutrition labels so they can comply with federally mandated nutrition labelling regulations, as well as develop healthy menus and meal plans.
• A new Fresh Summit educational program featuring 10 workshop tracks on a diverse number of industry topics, such as merchandising, consumption, floral, global trade, technology, foodservice, packing/transportation, hot topics, and professional development.
• The debut of the PMA Fresh Ideas Marketplace - which gave attendees insights into how to build sales for their floral and fresh meals programs through cross-merchandising best practices.
• The inaugural Fresh Summit Expo Contest, which saw the California Avocado Commission and Earthbound Farms take top honours in the island booth category while Exact Equipment and Ponderosa Farms took top honours in the in-line booth category.
Fresh Summit 2004 also saw the launch of a new programme aimed at developing future leaders for the fruit and vegetable industry. Thanks to the Pack Family/PMA Career Pathways Fund, 24 food and agricultural marketing students and their faculty advisors from six colleges learned about the numerous career options the produce industry offers through special meetings with PMA leaders and mentors; participating in the educational program; and touring the Fresh Summit Exposition.
Larry Zink, industry relations/outreach coordinator for the department of agricultural economics at Michigan State University, described the value of participating in the Pack Family/PMA Career Pathways Fund. “This is one of the most well thought-out programmes I’ve ever been involved in. It’s rare to see ceos of major produce marketers get so involved in programmes like this,” he said.
“It was wonderful to see leaders in the fresh produce industry, especially Jay and Ruthie Pack, take a genuine interest in tomorrow’s leaders and embrace the students as family. These types of programmes give students a look at the opportunities present in their futures. My students are still raving about their Fresh Summit experience,” he added.
Preliminary information for PMA’s Fresh Summit 2005 International Convention & Exposition, November 4-8 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is available at http://www.pma.com/FreshSummit2005.
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