The Produce Marketing Association announced another record-breaking crowd at its 34th annual PMA Foodservice Conference in Monterey, CA, held this past weekend (July 24-26).

The association reported that 1,870 attendees, including more than 480 foodservice distributors and in excess of 200 operators, were registered for the get-together.  Held near the Salinas Valley, numerous shipper and distributor events, private tours, and the many nearby golf courses screaming out for customer outings diffused the attendance at the opening reception and Saturday’s educational session.At the Idaho Potato Commission booth were Tod Schmidt, Jef Pryor, Jamie Bowen and Armand Lobato. For more photos, click here.  The PMA announced that both of those events also set individual records with more than 400 people attending each one.   During the Sunday trade show, the full effect of the record-setting crowd was more in evidence as the aisles were packed during the five-and-a-half-hour event.

Restaurant fare featuring fresh produce as the star of the plate was very much in evidence throughout the three-day event.  Several educational sessions discussed the growing inclusion of fresh produce-centric dishes and both the opening reception and a “strolling lunch” during Saturday’s educational session highlighted that trend.

Robert Verloop, executive vice president of marketing for Naturipe Farms LLC in Salinas, CA, was the opening session speaker.  He challenged the crowd to throw out the old ways of doing things that aren’t working and move forward in innovative directions.  He believes the foodservice arena offers much untapped potential for increased sales of fresh produce.  Though there is clearly a consumer trend toward healthy eating, he revealed that a recent survey showed that 54 percent of consumers eating out admit to eating “less healthy” at a restaurant than they do at home.  Only 12 percent claim their eating out occasions are “more healthy” than their eating-home events.

He noted several macro trends affecting foodservice, including empowered consumers who are clued in and looking for more authenticity.  For example, he said less than a generation ago the “Asian food” moniker was used to describe a wide range of restaurants.  Today, that title doesn’t cut it as the savvy consumer is looking specifically for Hunan, Szechwan, Thai, Cambodian or a half-dozen other cooking styles that fall under the Asian heading.

He discussed other emerging trends, including the move toward locally grown, sustainability and eating a more climate-friendly diet that includes less meat protein.  Verloop said if the foodservice industry can transform these trends to the plate, the result will be “golden” for the fresh produce industry.

Verloop told the crowd that they were going to hear a lot of innovative ideas during the day and he challenged the speakers to tell producers what they should grow if they have an extra acre of land.  PMA CEO Bryan Silbermann told this reporter at the opening session that the format for this show had been retooled to highlight more trends and ideas.  He articulated that thought in a prepared statement released by PMA after the show.   “The PMA Foodservice Committee, comprised of industry members from across the fresh produce and foodservice supply chains, took this conference back to its roots. The objectives of the conference, established years ago by foodservice pioneers Joe Stubbs, Tom Church, Joe Brennan and others, is truly to serve as an incubator of ideas – and to encourage attendees to put the learnings into action,” Silbermann said.

Several exhibitors were singled out after the event for their innovative products and showmanship, including Best of Show: Jacobs Farm Del Cabo; 2nd place Best of Show: Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers; Best Product Promo: Misionero Vegetables; and Sensory Experience Contest: Mann’s Fresh Vegetables. The strolling lunch featured a handful of chefs offering competing dishes with innovative uses of produce.  The attendees voted for their favorite dish with the Mushroom Council and Chef Domenica Catelli winning for a burger that utilizes mushrooms as 50 percent of the ingredients in the patty.