Indianapolis Fruit to host organic seminar
Indianapolis Fruit to host organic seminar
With the rapid growth of organic sales in supermarkets, retailers need more information about the category. In grand style, Indianapolis Fruit Co. in Indianapolis is answering many of the questions.
On April 24-25 the produce distributor will host 200 industry members for a sophisticated, invitation-only seminar titled "Winning at Retail: Developing Organics as a Strategic Point of Difference."
The company's Shane Towne, who has a background in organic produce, is organizing the seminar. Mr. Towne is marketing and new business development coordinator for Indianapolis Fruit.
Those attending the show hail from northern Wisconsin to Alabama to the Carolinas.
In addition to featuring seminars with four top experts in the organic business, the event will include a food show with about 40 organic food suppliers. Retailers are the focus of the seminar, but those attending will also include distribution center managers, government organizations, the press and local and regional growers.
Indianapolis Fruit is using University Place Conference Center & Hotel as the venue for the event. The invited guests are scheduled to enjoy a reception April 24, then the seminar runs all day April 25. The speakers will be Mark Mulcahy, Jeff Bartovics, Harold Lloyd and Cissy Brown.
Mr. Mulcahy owns Organic Options in Glen Ellen, CA, which is an organic education and consulting company. In 2002 he won the Sustie Award from the Ecological Farming Association. Sustie is an acronym for Steward of Sustainable Agriculture.
Mr. Bartovics has been in the organic food industry in many capacities for the last decade, beginning as a chef. He is the produce pool coordinator of Organic Valley Family of Farms in Lafarge, WI.
Mr. Lloyd is a business school graduate from both the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago. He was president of a family retail company, then began consulting to the retail business 19 years ago. He is based in Virginia Beach, VA.
Ms. Bowman started growing organic food in 1973 and has worked in various capacities within the category since then. In 1996 she helped to start Indiana Certified Organic LLC, which is a USDA- and ISO 65-accredited certifying agency. She is now chief executive officer of ICO and has served as chairman of the Indiana Organic Peer Review Panel, among many other leading roles in organics.
"This is our first year putting this together," Mr. Towne said. "The response for this has been amazing. We are very pleased about the response. This came out of the need that we were hearing from retailers, 'This organic category isn't going away. It's here to stay. It's double-digit growth consistently and it's not slowing or even leveling off. How do I pull organics into my regular set?' Out of that, we almost called this seminar Demystifying Organics."
He said that traditional retailers need the tools to apply an understanding of organics, and the issues surrounding organics, to individual stores.
Mr. Towne said that Indianapolis Fruit "hangs its hat on customer service. We really pride ourselves on educating our retailers so they can educate their consumers. There are so many questions and misunderstandings around organics, so we thought 'Let's get the key, right people involved for an outstanding seminar.' "
Indianapolis Fruit is a certified-organic distributor and handler "and we want to be that source for organics, he added. "More importantly, we want to educate our customers on the proper way to handle organics, so everyone in the mix is profitable."
On April 24-25 the produce distributor will host 200 industry members for a sophisticated, invitation-only seminar titled "Winning at Retail: Developing Organics as a Strategic Point of Difference."
The company's Shane Towne, who has a background in organic produce, is organizing the seminar. Mr. Towne is marketing and new business development coordinator for Indianapolis Fruit.
Those attending the show hail from northern Wisconsin to Alabama to the Carolinas.
In addition to featuring seminars with four top experts in the organic business, the event will include a food show with about 40 organic food suppliers. Retailers are the focus of the seminar, but those attending will also include distribution center managers, government organizations, the press and local and regional growers.
Indianapolis Fruit is using University Place Conference Center & Hotel as the venue for the event. The invited guests are scheduled to enjoy a reception April 24, then the seminar runs all day April 25. The speakers will be Mark Mulcahy, Jeff Bartovics, Harold Lloyd and Cissy Brown.
Mr. Mulcahy owns Organic Options in Glen Ellen, CA, which is an organic education and consulting company. In 2002 he won the Sustie Award from the Ecological Farming Association. Sustie is an acronym for Steward of Sustainable Agriculture.
Mr. Bartovics has been in the organic food industry in many capacities for the last decade, beginning as a chef. He is the produce pool coordinator of Organic Valley Family of Farms in Lafarge, WI.
Mr. Lloyd is a business school graduate from both the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago. He was president of a family retail company, then began consulting to the retail business 19 years ago. He is based in Virginia Beach, VA.
Ms. Bowman started growing organic food in 1973 and has worked in various capacities within the category since then. In 1996 she helped to start Indiana Certified Organic LLC, which is a USDA- and ISO 65-accredited certifying agency. She is now chief executive officer of ICO and has served as chairman of the Indiana Organic Peer Review Panel, among many other leading roles in organics.
"This is our first year putting this together," Mr. Towne said. "The response for this has been amazing. We are very pleased about the response. This came out of the need that we were hearing from retailers, 'This organic category isn't going away. It's here to stay. It's double-digit growth consistently and it's not slowing or even leveling off. How do I pull organics into my regular set?' Out of that, we almost called this seminar Demystifying Organics."
He said that traditional retailers need the tools to apply an understanding of organics, and the issues surrounding organics, to individual stores.
Mr. Towne said that Indianapolis Fruit "hangs its hat on customer service. We really pride ourselves on educating our retailers so they can educate their consumers. There are so many questions and misunderstandings around organics, so we thought 'Let's get the key, right people involved for an outstanding seminar.' "
Indianapolis Fruit is a certified-organic distributor and handler "and we want to be that source for organics, he added. "More importantly, we want to educate our customers on the proper way to handle organics, so everyone in the mix is profitable."
