Skip to main content

- Advertisement -

NEPC 2024 annual expo draws great crowd to popular venue

By
Gordon M. Hochberg

The New England Produce Council drew a big and energetic crowd to its 2024 expo, held in Boston, Aug. 19-20. The council’s premier event drew a little over 1,000 attendees, and featured more than 160 booths, according to Laura Sullivan, the council’s executive director.

The NEPC Produce, Floral & Food Service Expo 2024 returned to the Encore Boston Harbor for the second year in a row, a venue which has proven to be very popular with NEPC executives and attendees alike.

As usual, two receptions took place on the first night — the VIP reception, followed by the cocktail reception.

Laura Sullivan of the New England Produce Council and Juliet Moran of Suja at the opening cocktail reception.
Laura Sullivan of the New England Produce Council and Juliet
Moran of Suja at the opening cocktail reception.

The expo breakfast on Tuesday morning, Aug. 20, debuted a new feature it called Produce Feud, followed by the main event: the expo.

“We’ve had great attendance,” Sullivan told The Produce News midway through the trade show. “I think we had great participation at the expo breakfast with Produce Feud. The receptions last night were very well attended. It was a great night.”

Asked if the council had made a decision about next year, she replied, “Yes, we will be coming back to the Encore next year. The show date next year is August 19-20. It will be a Monday reception, and then Tuesday will be the show day, so virtually the same as this year. We’ll make a few tweaks, as each year we try to improve and make some adjustments to make it even better.”

She added, “This venue really suits us well. It’s in close proximity to the produce center, so it's very convenient for the market guys to do their work in the morning and then come over and still be able to participate in the show. I’ve seen more market attendance this year than I have in years past. I think that just being able to have a venue where we can have the hotel rooms, the receptions and the exhibits all under one roof have made life easy for everybody: the attendees, the exhibitors and the council.”

The Produce News had an opportunity to speak to a number of exhibitors during the show, and they were enjoying all aspects of the event.

Brandon Parker of Shuman Farms in Reidsville, GA, said, “It’s a really good show. To have everything under one roof, and such a nice place — it’s one of the nicer venues that we’ve attended — that’s great. We’ve been coming to the NEPC expo for 15-plus years or so, and it’s just a really good event that Laura and her team put on.”

Asked what he thought of the traffic on the show floor, Parker replied, “Overall, the traffic is good. We’re seeing a good mix of buyers. There’s such a good base here of retailers in the area. They’re able to drive in. So yes, we’re seeing a good number of retailers.”

Asked how important the New England area is to his company, Parker replied, “This market here actually has the highest consumption rate of sweet onions in the country. So, this is a very important market for us, and we continue to want to grow that market even more. There’s a really strong base here of consumers who gravitate to the sweet onion categories. So, it’s very important that we are here, and we continue to support our retail partners in a strong way.”

Marcus Albinder of Hudson River Fruit Distributors in Milton, NY, stated, “I think the show has been very successful for us. We’re based in the Northeast, and a lot of our customers are also around this vicinity, so it’s been excellent to be able to see a large amount of customers all within the same period of time. It’s been a good show to be at.”

Asked about the New England Produce Council itself, Albinder stated, “I think they’ve been doing a tremendous job. It takes a lot of effort to get all these big suppliers and retailers in the same room at the same time. I think they picked a fantastic location here at the Encore in Boston.”

Tim Harrington of Stemilt Growers in Wenatchee, WA, said that there’s a “great crowd today” and the show traffic “has been very steady.” He added, “We’re seeing all the important folks we had hoped to see. It’s great having a chance to really show what’s coming up for the upcoming season with apples and pears. We enjoy talking about it.”

He was enjoying the venue itself, too. “The facility is fantastic,” he said. “The dining and the receptions and the events have been wonderful. This morning’s breakfast was really a lot of fun.”

Commenting on the people walking the show floor, Harrington stated, “It’s been great to see all my key customers and have time to have a nice discussion with them about the upcoming season.”

Asked if he was seeing a good mix of buyers at the show, he stated, “That’s the wonderful thing about this produce show here in New England. You see retailers anywhere from New Jersey all the way up through Maine. Some chains have brought their produce managers along to participate in the show. Everybody from buyers to category managers to directors to merchandisers — all the folks you want to see and share information with have been here.”

Joe Atchison III of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture said, “The show’s going very well. We’ve had some great conversations. I’ve spoken with buyers from a couple of different chains up here in the Northeast. We really appreciate the opportunity to be here and communicate with these audiences.”

He added, “Traffic started out a little slow but has progressed as people made their way through the aisles and made their way to see Jersey Fresh. We always appreciate the turnout from the local chains and getting the opportunity to introduce them to what Jersey has to offer.”

The NJDA was showcasing a large number of items from the Garden State. “We have a lot of our summer favorites and some of our early fall entries,” he noted. “We have corn, tomatoes, peaches, peppers, Butternut squash, Acorn squash. We have eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and some apples.”

Asked about the New England market area itself, Atchison replied, “New England is very important to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture because outside of the immediate New Jersey tri-state area, New England is the second largest market for our agricultural products. So as the seasons go from Florida up the eastern coast, we appreciate the opportunity to work with the retailers in this area.”

Gordon Hochberg

Gordon Hochberg

About Gordon M. Hochberg  |  email

Gordon M. Hochberg was born in New York City, and grew up in Westchester County, NY. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in history from Lafayette College in 1973.

He started his career at The Produce News in the late 1970s, and has been with the publication ever since.

He served on the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Agricultural Society from 2012 to 2018. He currently serves on the Southeast Produce Council’s Board of Governors.

He enjoys music, theater and reading (American and ancient history are his favorites). And he’s been a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees since attending his first game in the late 1950s. He and his wife, Kathi, have been married since 1974.

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -