All aspects of the Southeast Produce Council's Southern Exposure 2026, from the networking events to the opening gala, from the educational sessions to the vibrant speakers, from the keynote brunch to the expo, will reflect and build on this year's theme: From Fields to Families -- Nourishing Our Nation.

The 2026 conference and trade show will return to last year’s well-received venue, the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, FL. SE will take place from Feb. 26 to March 1, which is about a week earlier than usual. Almost all the events will take place at the Marriott.

As always, the council is expecting a large and enthusiastic crowd at its annual event. “We’re about at the 2,400 mark right now, which is right where we normally are,” David Sherrod, the council’s president and CEO, said at the end of January. By the time the event starts, he expects that number to rise to about 3,500, “which is right where we usually are,” he said. “What’s very exciting this year is that we have more retail and foodservice organizations represented than we ever have.”

Pre-events

Before Southern Exposure officially begins, the Next Generation Leadership Academy session will take place Wednesday, Feb. 25, and the board of directors will meet in the afternoon, followed by the VIP dinner that evening.

“We’re always excited about the VIP dinner, getting together with old friends and people who have got us where we are,” said Sherrod. “And it gives us a little taste of how the weekend’s going to go.”

Networking day

On Thursday, Feb. 26, “We go right into our networking day with the Tom Page Golf Classic,” which is named for one of the founders of the council. This will be held at the Reunion Resort & Golf Club, about 10 miles from the Marriott. A full schedule of “288 happy golfers,” as Sherrod quipped, have signed up. For those not driving to the Reunion, a shuttle will depart at 6 a.m. from the Marriott, concluding with the awards luncheon from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

LINKS rooms “will be available for our retail community” from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., he noted. The LINKS session provides a unique opportunity for retail and foodservice companies to host meetings with grower and shipper companies, fostering a collaborative and educational environment.

Also on Thursday, the Cool Cucumber Classic Pickleball Tournament will be held from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Crush Yard, which is about a 20-minute drive from the hotel. “We brought pickleball to Southern Innovations last year, but it is new to Southern Exposure,” said Sherrod. About 64 players are expected to participate.

Registration for SE officially begins Thursday. “We will open up registration from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. for badge pickup right there at the Cyprus Rotunda, close to the expo hall,” noted Sherrod. Exhibitor setup will start at 1 p.m.

From 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., “We will have our Future Generations Celebration Dinner for all of our leadership and scholarship programs,” he said. This invitation-only event is designed for STEP-UPP, STARS and NGLA participants to connect with SEPC board and VIP members. This event will take place on the Falls Event Lawn right behind the hotel around the pool area. “We will be recognizing all those people who participated this year,” noted Sherrod.

Sessions

The first event on Friday, Feb. 27, is the STARS breakfast (by invitation only), which will take place from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., featuring Sherrod along with Jennifer Holmes of Food Lion and Adam Lytch of L&M Cos. This breakfast offers STARS students, STARS Committee memebers, SEPC board members and the speakers a unique chance to network and connect, engage in meaningful conversations and build lasting relationships in a relaxed and inviting atmosphere.

“Then we really kick into our educational sessions and dive into the fields to families theme that Sloan has chosen for his platform this year,” said Sherrod, referring to Sloan Lott, chairman of the board of directors.

The first educational session, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., is titled The State of Agriculture. Moderator Robby Cruz, vice president of produce and floral at Target, will be joined by panelists Steve Church, chairman of Church Bros. Farms in Salinas, CA; Sarah Frey, founder and CEO of Frey Farms, an agribusiness headquartered in south Florida; and Ashley Rawl, vice president of sales, marketing and produce development at WP Rawl.

“We’re really excited about this star-studded farmer panel that we have,” said Sherrod. Noting that the moderator is a retailer while the grower-shippers are the panelists, Sherrod stated, “That’s a little different than previous years when we had it the other way around. It’s going to be exciting to hear everybody talking candidly about the pitfalls and the victories that we share in our industry.”

After a short break, the second education session, titled The Power of Produce 2026, will take place from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., with returning co-presenters Rick Stein, vice president of fresh foods at FMI, and Anne-Marie Roerink, president of 210 Analytics LLC. They will be joined by panelists Shanan Cox, senior director of produce at Sam’s Club; Andy Hamilton, CEO at Markon Cooperative; and Chris Keetch, director of produce and floral at The Giant Co.

“It’s great to have Rick and Anne-Marie coming back to moderate this for us,” said Sherrod. “And we have a really great panel representing the club format, a traditional supermarket and the foodservice perspective.”

The Good Seeds MENtor Program will take place from noon to 2 p.m., where attendees will hear from Stephen Mansfield, a New York Times best-selling author and popular speaker who leads a training and consulting firm based in Washington, DC.

The Southern Roots luncheon (for women in produce) will also take place from noon to 2 p.m., where attendees will hear from Molly Yeh, an American chef, cookbook author and host of the Food Network series Girl Meets Farm.

The Board of Governors will meet from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

STARS Fresh Futures will take place from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The Healthy Family Project Reception (by invitation only) will take place from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The Opening Gala will take place from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. in the Crystal Ballroom. A bluegrass band called Remedy Tree will kick things off, and Chris Cagle, a nationally known country singer, and his band will be coming in at 8 p.m.

‘The big day’

Saturday, Feb. 28 is “the big day,” declared Sherrod, beginning with the keynote brunch from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The brunch will feature a state-of-the-council address from Sloan Lott and the rest of the executive team.

Also, the 2026 Terry Vorhees Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Garry Bergstrom, a retired executive from Publix Supermarkets, who currently serves on the SEPC Board of Governors. “We are so happy for Garry and all the contributions he’s made to this council,” said Sherrod.

John C. Maxwell, world-renowned leadership author, will deliver the keynote address. Maxwell has spent his life helping people, and his mission is to add value to leaders who multiply value to others.

The trade show will take place right after the keynote brunch, utilizing the early entry system which debuted back in September 2025. As Sherrod put it, “This is something we tried at Southern Innovations that was received really well by pretty much everybody. We’re adding an hour so that our retail and foodservice buyers can go in and see gold and silver sponsors first. That will be from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. We’ll have a ribbon cutting there, and we’ll do another ribbon cutting at 12 o’clock when we open up for general attendees. The expo goes all the way to 6 p.m.”

Sherrod is expecting 315 exhibitors this year, three more than last year.

No formal events are planned following the expo, allowing attendees to relax, enjoy the city of Orlando or simply spend some quality time with friends and associates.

The Al Finch Memorial Prayer Breakfast will take place Sunday morning, March 1.

Asked to expand a little on what he envisions at Southern Exposure, the SEPC president thought for a minute, then stated, “We have a lot of things going on this year, but I think it’s going to feel like you have some time in there, too, with a good work-and-play balance. We have an all-star cast of speakers, and the band is going to be really good.”

He concluded, “Our numbers are great, and the quality of people we have coming is just outstanding. We have senior VPs and directors. We are very excited about who’s attending. It’s a great list.”