Economic woes cast aside for weekend in the Sunshine State
Economic woes cast aside for weekend in the Sunshine State
ORLANDO, FL -- The 59th annual Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit, held Oct. 24-27 at the Orange County Convention Center, here, drew 17,502 attendees, more than 1,000 shy of the 18,630 record attendance set in San Diego in 2006 but some 1,600 more than last year's event in Houston.
"We couldn't be more pleased," said Lorna Christie, PMA's senior vice president of industry products and services. "We market to the economy."
The 2008 convention and exposition did shatter a key benchmark: There were nearly 4,000 buyers in attendance, which exceeds Fresh Summit's previous best "by 500 or 600" set in San Diego in 2006, Ms. Christie said.
The event also set an attendance record for Fresh Summits held on the East Coast, eclipsing the previous mark set here in 2003. Attendance records aside, the event continued its trend of including ample international representation among its exhibitors.
The attendance numbers should be heartening for PMA and the industry at a time when worldwide economic woes have taken center stage. The fresh produce industry is filled with resilient professionals, witnessed by exposition floor chatter that generally was upbeat. Company representatives were prepared to tell of their company's latest products and initiatives.
"We added sessions on the economy," Ms. Christie said, noting that PMA allows for flexibility in planning its sessions and workshops for Fresh Summit so that it can "adapt to changing needs."
PMA will follow up with a webinar in November on how companies can move their business forward during these tough economic times.
Next year, Fresh Summit returns to Anaheim, CA, set for the first week in October. Among other things, one goal always is to set a new attendance mark, Ms. Christie said, but she added that PMA is "so much more than a week in October."
Some expo attendees pointed to prime locations on the trade show floor as key to having a lot of foot traffic by their booths. But Ms. Christie said that she has also heard positive comments from exhibitors set up on far walls along the perimeter, which could be considered less desirable real estate. "The show is what you make it," she said.
The exposition floor felt more crowded on Saturday than Sunday. Typically, there is a rush of traffic for the opening hours of the first day of the expo, and the second day tends to involve more scheduled appointments, Ms. Christie said. Some attendees questioned the need for the abbreviated third, final day of the expo floor being open, as foot traffic typically is considerably lighter on the final day.
However, "quality people come through for the third day," Ms. Christie countered, adding that quality conversations take place at the booths, typically with more privacy than during the previous two days.
Woody Johnson of Salinas, CA-based Growers Express is one attendee who felt that the floor hours could be held to two days. He said that a compressed timeframe encourages attendees to make appointments and commitments to visit a company's booth. Growers Express, which was an exhibitor, brought 12 people to the show this year; last year the company brought 18 people.
There appears to be a tendency for companies that use Fresh Summit as a launching pad for new products to have more bodies at their booth. Then, too, product samples are especially enticing to hungry and thirsty expo floorwalkers.
Bobby Price of Salinas-based Colorful Harvest said that both Saturday and Sunday brought "heavy foot traffic" by his company's booth.
John Pandol of Delano, CA-based Pandol Bros. Inc. said that he had seen "many of our Latin American suppliers" at Fresh Summit.
William Goldfield, communications manager for Westlake Village, CA-based Dole Food Co., said that the company was "getting feedback all day" Sunday about a banana-coring device at Dole's booth that drills down into the center of a banana and allows the user to fill the inside with whatever he or she chooses. The company has the exclusive rights to market the device, made by DestapaBanana, he said.
Mike Antle of Salinas-based Tanimura & Antle said that trends which PMA has targeted dovetail nicely with T&A's business. "We're feeling like it's the direction we're going as a company" in areas such as traceability and putting the company's face to a product, he said.
Samantha Cabaluna of San Juan Bautista, CA-based Earthbound Farm said that her company brought considerably fewer people to staff its booth than it had last year. She also said that PMA was smart to open the expo floor Saturday rather than Sunday, as in the past.
Stan Otremba of Santa Maria, CA-based Bonipak Produce Co. said that the trade show floor had been particularly bustling on Saturday. Since most of the industry's sales work is done by phone, the show helps "put a face to a name," he said.
"We couldn't be more pleased," said Lorna Christie, PMA's senior vice president of industry products and services. "We market to the economy."
The 2008 convention and exposition did shatter a key benchmark: There were nearly 4,000 buyers in attendance, which exceeds Fresh Summit's previous best "by 500 or 600" set in San Diego in 2006, Ms. Christie said.
The event also set an attendance record for Fresh Summits held on the East Coast, eclipsing the previous mark set here in 2003. Attendance records aside, the event continued its trend of including ample international representation among its exhibitors.
The attendance numbers should be heartening for PMA and the industry at a time when worldwide economic woes have taken center stage. The fresh produce industry is filled with resilient professionals, witnessed by exposition floor chatter that generally was upbeat. Company representatives were prepared to tell of their company's latest products and initiatives.
"We added sessions on the economy," Ms. Christie said, noting that PMA allows for flexibility in planning its sessions and workshops for Fresh Summit so that it can "adapt to changing needs."
PMA will follow up with a webinar in November on how companies can move their business forward during these tough economic times.
Next year, Fresh Summit returns to Anaheim, CA, set for the first week in October. Among other things, one goal always is to set a new attendance mark, Ms. Christie said, but she added that PMA is "so much more than a week in October."
Some expo attendees pointed to prime locations on the trade show floor as key to having a lot of foot traffic by their booths. But Ms. Christie said that she has also heard positive comments from exhibitors set up on far walls along the perimeter, which could be considered less desirable real estate. "The show is what you make it," she said.
The exposition floor felt more crowded on Saturday than Sunday. Typically, there is a rush of traffic for the opening hours of the first day of the expo, and the second day tends to involve more scheduled appointments, Ms. Christie said. Some attendees questioned the need for the abbreviated third, final day of the expo floor being open, as foot traffic typically is considerably lighter on the final day.
However, "quality people come through for the third day," Ms. Christie countered, adding that quality conversations take place at the booths, typically with more privacy than during the previous two days.
Woody Johnson of Salinas, CA-based Growers Express is one attendee who felt that the floor hours could be held to two days. He said that a compressed timeframe encourages attendees to make appointments and commitments to visit a company's booth. Growers Express, which was an exhibitor, brought 12 people to the show this year; last year the company brought 18 people.
There appears to be a tendency for companies that use Fresh Summit as a launching pad for new products to have more bodies at their booth. Then, too, product samples are especially enticing to hungry and thirsty expo floorwalkers.
Bobby Price of Salinas-based Colorful Harvest said that both Saturday and Sunday brought "heavy foot traffic" by his company's booth.
John Pandol of Delano, CA-based Pandol Bros. Inc. said that he had seen "many of our Latin American suppliers" at Fresh Summit.
William Goldfield, communications manager for Westlake Village, CA-based Dole Food Co., said that the company was "getting feedback all day" Sunday about a banana-coring device at Dole's booth that drills down into the center of a banana and allows the user to fill the inside with whatever he or she chooses. The company has the exclusive rights to market the device, made by DestapaBanana, he said.
Mike Antle of Salinas-based Tanimura & Antle said that trends which PMA has targeted dovetail nicely with T&A's business. "We're feeling like it's the direction we're going as a company" in areas such as traceability and putting the company's face to a product, he said.
Samantha Cabaluna of San Juan Bautista, CA-based Earthbound Farm said that her company brought considerably fewer people to staff its booth than it had last year. She also said that PMA was smart to open the expo floor Saturday rather than Sunday, as in the past.
Stan Otremba of Santa Maria, CA-based Bonipak Produce Co. said that the trade show floor had been particularly bustling on Saturday. Since most of the industry's sales work is done by phone, the show helps "put a face to a name," he said.
