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IFPA Foodservice Conference sees strong turnout
By
John Groh, Debbie Miller, Kyle Eberth and Adam Campbell
July 31, 2023
MONTEREY, CA — The foodservice segment of the produce industry is alive and well, as evidenced by the strong turnout at the IFPA Foodservice Conference, held here July 27-28.
Always a favorite with industry members, this year’s conference drew approximately 2,200 attendees and more than 930 buyers, who navigated the packed expo floor that included nearly 30 first-time exhibitors. Additionally, more than 30 exhibitors featured kid-friendly products.

Armand Lobato, Jamie Bowen, Matt Brigotti and Daren Bitter of the Idaho Potato Commission.

Representing the National Mango Board were Susan Hughes and Madeline Kang.

Jarom Jemmett and Candi Fitch promoted Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onions at the IFPA Foodservice expo.

Kevin Stanger and Joe Esta of Wada Farms.

Megan Stallings, Melissa Brucker and Ardy Haerizadeh of Calavo.

Andy Kimbrell, Gary Zach and Maya Barajas of Crunch Pak.

Jason Minici and Eric Kraus of Christopher Ranch.

Francesca Fordice, Marissa Marchini and Marc Marchini of Joe's Premium.

Carmine Borelli, Tiffany Sabelli and Matt Mastronardi of Pure Flavor.

Hunter Camps, Lindsay Belfatto and Noah Robbins of Ark Foods.

Nick Kingston, Kristy Sommers, Mike Anderson and Richard Connelly of Kingston Fresh.

Rochelle Bohm of CMI Orchards and Dayanira Hernandez-Politron from Hartnell College.

Tom Salisbury and Jeff Olsen of Chuck Olsen Co.

Kirt Mockli and Mandi Bliven of Onions 52.

Joe Colligan, Paul Maglio and Sam Maglio of Maglio Produce.

Nick Gallioto and Robert Collings of ZAG Technical Services.

Tom Lyons of Kaliroy Fresh.

At the Master’s Touch booth were Santiago Landgrave, Carlos Franco and Daniel Heguertty.

Brad Sanders and Dan Hawkins of Giltner.

Wonderful Citrus was represented by Jarrod Lumpkins, Nancy Johnston, Zachary Wakefield and Courtney Ludford.

Dandee Hale, Stephen Abend and Rulon Robinson of Nonpareil – Idaho Potato Packers.

Atanasio Panousopoulos, Otillo Garavito and Nate Bachelier of Delta Fresh.

At the Lipman Family Farms booth were Amy Holcomb, Morgan Stuckert, James Baker, Elsa Rodriguez, Dave Hughes and Nick Brown.

Raul Jaramillo and Tommy Caruana of Hazel Technologies.

Kari Maggiorini of Seven Seas, Daniela Gonzalez from Hartnell College, Sybil Faulconbridge of Tanimura & Antle and Josie Torgrimson of Sysco.

Christa Biggs of Aptar Food + Beverage.

Bob VanDine, Candice Stansfield, Olga Osthus and Israel Vargas of Perricone Juices.

Derek Patterson, Wes Finch and Jenna McGuire of Pepper.

Jason Bumpus and Christina Moneta of Integrity Express Logistics.

At the Colombia Avocado Board booth were Sabrina Fisher of Full Tilt Marketing and Manuel Michel, who was recently named CAB’s new executive director.

David Cruz, Jeff Overman, Alexi Rudolf and Kim Kurata of the California Avocado Association.

Megan McKenna of the National Watermelon Promotion Board handed out samples of watermelon-based dishes at the IFPA Foodservice Conference.

Helen Aquino of Village Farms handed out macrons made with the company’s different tomato varieties.

Agnes Boutros and Rachel Gough of Mastronardi Produce.

Dave Allen and Nancy Byner of Potandon Produce.

Isha Ghetia, Hannah Cleveland and Eric Frasse of I Love Produce.

Luis Webb, Tony Incaviglia, Antonio Villalobos and Danny Canady of GR Fresh.

JC Cavaletto, Sophia Cavaletto and Giovanni Cavaletto of GLC Cerritos.

Terrance Lindauer, David Hager, Dave Verdrager and Craig Fields of RPE LLC.

Jason Sadoian and Monique Mueller of Bee Sweet Citrus.

Jodi Green and Bob Wilkinson of Arctic Apples.

Sarah Quackenbush and Aaron Clishe of North Bay Produce.

Dominic DeFrancesco, Jackie Nakashian and Jeri Elsasser of Trinity Fruit Sales.

At the Cooseman’s Worldwide booth were Bernadette Beruman, Garrick Macek and Rebecca Rasmussen.

Tron Crumley, Christy Hermosillo and Jill Cox of Sun-Glo of Idaho.

Danny Baltazar, Hermy Torres, Manny Fajardo and Adrian Gonzalez of iDeal HarBest.

Sarah Noernberg of Kalera.

Stephen Fink and Bryan Garibay of Dayka & Hackett LLC.

Richard Oleksa, Chelsea McClarty Ketelsen and Mark Givens of HMC Farms.

Jeffery Harmell of Eagle Protect PBC.

Sanna Andersson and Kasey Snyder of Netled.

Cathy Burns of IFPA surrounded by Bruce Taylor of Taylor Farms, John Anderson and Jim Leach of Oppy, and Steve Barnard of Mission Produce.

Stephanie Bazan, Stephanie Browder, Walter Rivas, Patrick Brady and JP Holt of Avocados from Mexico.

Jessica Tulgestka, Colette Gendron, Lisa Hearne, Michelle Roberts, Reno DiTullio, Sofia Lemos, John Millwater and Clint Prachyl of Taylor Farms Foodservice.

Ryan Conlon, Andy Webb, Veronica Rodarte, Tyler Steele and Dominic DeFranco of Progressive Produce.

Diana Garcia, Scott Grabau, Kelsey Crusha, Ashley Kaslin, Brian Antle and Thomas Wheelus of Tanimura & Antle.

Lisa Dennis, Angelic Meza and Loree Dowse of Church Brothers Farms.

Thomas and Melissa Joyner of Nash Produce.

Andrew Flores, Ozzie Figueroa and Moises Oceguera of Henry Avocado Corp.

Lauren Vacca, Katie Grossman and Kendall Wileman of Mission Produce Inc.

Daniel Marti of Procurant.

Corey Oleson (center) and Tony Espinoza (fourth from left) of Produce Alliance stopped at the La Bonanza Avocados booth to visit with Maggie Bezart-Hall, Casey Beltran and Alberto Chavez.

Sebastian Bonduelle, Jeff Herdeg, Kiana Remagni and Maribel Davila of Bonduelle.

Amelia Jackson, Sandy Jurach, Alan Ediger and Kyla Oberman of California Giant Berry Farms.

Mose and Sue Munro of Fresherized Foods promoted the company’s Wholly Guacamole line.

At the Fortune Growers booth were Mark Sato, Shafin Khan and Martin Malanowicz.

Robb Bertels, Gary Burk, Crystal Chavez, Chris Olsen and Dave Johnson of Gold Coast Packing Inc.

David Griffin, BJ Potts and Rick McGee of Hampton Farms.

Bryan Barsness and Ernesto Perez of GrubMarket.

Mark Vaughan, David Root, Lauren Dees, Scott Bricker, Tyler Vaughan and Amber Parrow of Fresh Avenue Partners.

Jack Guan, Candy Han and Jian Zheng of Guans Mushroom Co.

John Alderman, Nichole Towell and Rich Uchida of Duda Farm Fresh Foods.

At the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee’s annual customer appreciation brunch co-sponsored by Southwind Farms Gourmet Potatoes by Wilcox were Derek Peterson, Juan Juarez and Robert Tominaga, who featured the company’s new box.

Kristen Holden, Lacey De La Torre and Darryl Bollack of Mariani Nut Co.

Dean Fahselt and Cassandra Duarte of Conscious Foods with Jamie Kitz of IFPA and Dustin Bridgewater of Pairwise Plants.

Claudia Torres and Felix Lopes of Wanabana LLC.

Candi Fitch of Idaho-Eastern Oregon Sweet Onion and Spencer Frahm of Frahm Fresh Produce.

Clara Shih, Danny Tani and Dora Galindo of Best Buy Produce International Inc.

Jay Angulo, Susan McLaughilin, Reiley Johnstone and Carlos Encinas of Baloian Farms.

Evan Giuliani and McKray Poole of Eagle Eye Produce.

Jesse Reyes of Mycopia.
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