PMA Fresh Summit attendees hear from Michelle Obama
PMA Fresh Summit attendees hear from Michelle Obama
During the annual State of the Industry presentation, Bryan Silbermann, PMA's chief executive officer, and PMA President Cathy Burns touched on a number of trends that are driving change in the produce and floral industries -- ranging from shifts in consumer buying behavior highlighted by the association’s research practice; advances in approaches to attracting and retaining talent; convergences in the food safety and technology arenas with the potential to ensure even safer fresh produce; and diverse strategies and tactics to drive consumer demand for fresh produce and floral.
A highlight of the presentation was a congratulatory video from first lady Michelle Obama, thanking the industry for its outstanding work in promoting fruits and vegetables – with special acknowledgement for those leaders participating in both the eat brighter! and FNV initiatives.
“I want to thank all of you for your outstanding work to promote fruits and vegetables across this country,” she said. “Together we’re making the healthy choice the easy choice for families. And, we’re showing the power of marketing to promote healthier products, and the results have been beyond anything we could have imagined.”
On the heels of that message, PMA announced a strategic alliance with the Entertainment Resource & Marketing Association -- the association of entertainment marketing professionals -- to bring fresh produce center stage through television shows, movies and online entertainment. As part of the alliance, ERMA has agreed to advocate the use of fresh produce in entertainment production and track that use. PMA has agreed to assist ERMA to make generic, fresh produce available as those entertainment opportunities arise. Produce companies that may want to feature specific products or brands will still be able to use product placement companies to do so. ERMA members work on product placement.
During the address, Bryan and Cathy also announced that the Center for Produce Safety’s Campaign for Produce Safety had grown from $4.6 million to $6 million; this includes PMA’s contribution of $1 million.
