ORLANDO, FL — The Southeast Produce Council's Southern Exposure 2015 drew more people than ever before, setting records for over all attendance as well as for participation by the retail and foodservice sectors of the fresh produce industry.

Last year's Southern Exposure saw over all attendance of 1,748, of which 361 were from the retail and foodservice sectors, according to SEPC Executive Director David Sherrod.

The 2015 event left those numbers in the dust.SEPC Executive Director David Sherrod and SEPC President Mark Daniels prepared to cut the ribbon Saturday, Feb. 28, to open the trade show. Behind them were two other SEPC officers, Secretary Faye Westfall and Treasurer Steve Pinkston.

"Over all attendance right now is 2,082," Sherrod told The Produce News Saturday, Feb. 28, midway through the expo, "and may go over 2,100 when all the numbers are tallied." And participation "from the retail and foodservice sectors looks to be over 450."

While it may be difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons for the huge jump in participation at this year's Southern Exposure, Sherrod offered at least one reason. "This year I felt we did a great job of getting our message out before the start of the event," he said.

The Southeast Produce Council's 2015 conference and trade show, known as Southern Exposure, was held here Feb. 25-28 at the Caribe Royale All Suite Hotel & Convention Center. The theme this year was "A Whole Lotta Produce Going On."

This year's event got under way, as usual, with the annual Tom Page Golf Classic, on Thursday, Feb. 26. The winning team on the Watson course consisted of Brent Scoggins and Mike Ryan, both of Bayshore Produce, and Scott Agerton of General Produce LLC; the winning team on the Palmer course consisted of Laura Berryessa and Steven Shearer, both of Castle Rock Vineyards, and Tony Harmon and Paul Newstead, both of Nathel International.

Also on Thursday, World Cup alpine skier and Olympic gold and silver medalist Picabo Street spoke at the Southern Roots luncheon. Southern Roots is the council's new leadership program for women, chaired by SEPC First Vice President Teri Miller of Delhaize America.

Another highlight took place that evening when Walter P. Rawl & Sons Inc. held a reception to celebrate its 90th anniversary.

A full schedule of events took place Friday, Feb. 27, including two workshops, a retail/foodservice appreciation luncheon and a Produce for Kids reception as well as the opening gala party, where music and décor from the 1950s captured this year's theme. As always, many SEPC board members and others got into the spirit of the theme by dressing in 1950s clothes or costumes.

The keynote luncheon took place Saturday, Feb. 28, beginning with the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to the family of Terry Vorhees, one of the founders of the Southeast Produce Council and its first executive director, who died last July 30. It was also announced that beginning next year, the award will be renamed the Terry Vorhees Lifetime Achievement Award in his honor.

Football legend Archie Manning delivered the keynote speech at the luncheon, relating many stories from his college and professional football career as well as talking about the importance of leadership in his or any other field.

The well-attended and vibrant trade show took place right after the keynote luncheon and ran the remainder of the day, drawing strong traffic, according to all accounts.

As David Sherrod put it, "I feel like we've had a real successful trade show. I spoke to some of the new people" at the event for the first time, "and they could not believe how great this show is. I feel like we've really delivered on the things we wanted to achieve."

Sherrod was not the only one who was extremely pleased with really everything at the event, especially the trade show, which saw about 267 booths, the maximum number that this year's venue could accommodate.

"It's been very exciting. Southern Exposure draws customers from all over the country, from Texas to California to Michigan, the Northeast to the Southeast," said Maggie Bezart-Hall of Avocados from Mexico. "There's such a great representation of small and large chains, and foodservice. And it's not rushed. At this show, customers have allocated their time to be at the show — and not at outside vendor meetings." She added, "The atmosphere is very [geared to] networking and development. We're getting quality time with our customers."

Merle Axelrod, president of Supreme Cuts, said, "This is a great show, and it always is. The traffic is great; everyone's energized. It's great to see new people and familiar faces. There's a lot of excitement. This is a show that we always look forward to participating in."

Christina Regan of Sbrocco International had praise for all of Southern Exposure's events. "There was a lot of excitement at the opening gala, and the retailer workshop provided us with a lot of good insight as to how we can strengthen our ties with our retail partners," she said. "The entire event has been very well attended, and we are absolutely looking forward to coming back next year."

Barbara Anderson of DNE World Fruit LLC said, "It's been outstanding all around; there's a lot of retail action. This event gives us a tremendous opportunity to network with a lot of different people in the industry." She continued, "The opening gala was really done very well. It's been outstanding all around. It's been a great show for us. David is working very hard to carry on Terry's legacy, and he's doing a fantastic job."