BOSTON — The New England Produce Council held its 20th annual expo Sept. 18-19, here.
The NEPC Produce, Floral & Foodservice Expo 2019 drew good attendance and a busy trade show with exhibitors from across the country and beyond, held again at the Hynes Convention Center.
Steve Lutz of Category Partners with NEPC President Anthony Sattler of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Photos by Gordon M. Hochberg
On Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 18, industry veteran Steve Lutz, senior vice president of insights and innovation at Category Partners, spoke on the topic, "how new products are permanently changing consumers and what retailers and producers need to know."
The opening cocktail reception was held that evening at the Top of the Hub, with attendees enjoying spectacular views of the city and a gorgeous sunset from the venue's 50th story.
On Thursday morning, the keynote breakfast featured a presentation by Rich Dachman, another industry veteran who retired from Sysco Corp. in June of this year and who now serves as chief executive officer at Brighter Bites, a non-profit organization that focuses on feeding fresh produce to underprivileged elementary school children.
Rich Dachman of Brighter Bites spoke at the keynote breakfast Thursday, Sept. 18, at the NEPC expo.
Becky Roberts, director of floral and new initiatives at the Produce Marketing Association, also gave a presentation during the event.
The key aspect of the event, of course, was the expo, where vendors showcased a wide variety of both domestic and imported fresh fruits and vegetables, and traffic on the floor looked to be steady and strong.
The Produce News had a chance to ask a number of exhibitors their impressions of the 20th annual event midway through the expo.
Pat Ferraro of Hudson River Fruit Distributors said, "This is a very good show, and there's been good attendance — a great mix of people. That gives us an opportunity to present new items, and it's great exposure for new items at this show."
Brandon Parker of Shuman Farms said, "There is a lot of good traffic. We've had a number of our retail partners stop by. We had a great event last night and saw a lot of good folks. Laura Sullivan and her team and the entire board do a great job."
Tom Beaver of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture said, "This is a great show for us. New England is the third-largest market for New Jersey product, so it's always important for us to come up here and talk with buyers who are already supporting New Jersey growers and to interact with buyers who are interested in starting a Jersey Fresh program. We appreciate the major retailers who are committed to this show, who make it a priority to send everybody, from their produce buyers to their produce department managers."
Glen Reynolds of Potandon Produce said, "One of the best things about this show is that we see a lot of the operators from store level, which gives us an opportunity to exchange feedback from both an operational level and the consumer level. That level of communication is invaluable. It provides us as a supplier the opportunity to train and educate staff that interacts directly with the end user."
Doug Stewart of Giorgio Fresh said, "I think there's a very strong turnout, a very high percentage of decision-makers. We also appreciate talking to all the people we do business with. And I think the keynote speaker, Rich Dachman, gave a very informative presentation this morning."
The day after the event, The Produce News asked NEPC President Anthony Sattler of C&S Wholesale Grocers for his thoughts on the event.
"It was a great show," he stated. "Attendance continues to rise year over year. We expanded the number of floral booths this year."
He added, "We had great speakers. Steve Lutz spoke about product innovation, Rich Dachman did an amazing job, from the foodservice supply chain to nutrition and charitable giving — all of which are near and dear to my heart and to the council's heart. And all of that was capped off with Becky Roberts of PMA and her floral presentation. So it was very informative and very busy, and a lot of networking was being done at the show."
Regarding the 20-year milestone for this year's expo, Sattler stated, "The fact that it was our 20th anniversary and we able to celebrate as a council" was wonderful. It was also important to "remember all the council members from years past and everything that they've contributed to the New England region. It just means so much to be a successful organization for 20 years and to bring so much to this region. It means a lot, absolutely."
