Record numbers for CPMA's first springtime convention
Record numbers for CPMA's first springtime convention
TORONTO -- Numbers alone seldom tell the whole story of any event, but the numbers regarding the Canadian Produce Marketing Association's 80th annual convention and trade show paint a rosy picture indeed.
Attendance at the convention, held here May 11-14, reached a record 3,450 from 17 different countries, according to the association. Last year about 3,300 people attended the show Feb. 4-7 in Calgary, AB. Formerly held in the dead of winter, the Toronto convention marked the first time CPMA held its annual gathering in the spring.
This year's trade show saw 326 exhibitors, up dramatically from 275 last year. "We had outstanding participation in the trade show," an enthusiastic Ron Lemaire, CPMA's director of marketing, told The Produce News, with a "good mix of exhibitors. "We had a great turnout of wholesalers and foodservice & and good participation from the U.S. on the retail side.
"This tremendous growth is directly related to the outstanding efforts of the Toronto organizing committee and the commitment of Chairman Wayne McKnight, vice president of global food procurement at Wal-Mart Inc., Walt Breeden, Vancouver convention chairman and Canadian sales manager for The Oppenheimer Group in Vancouver, BC, said in a CPMA news release. "As the chairman of the 2006 Vancouver convention, we hope to build on the Toronto success and provide delegates and exhibitors with an equally positive experience next year in Vancouver.
The chairman's reception Wednesday evening, May 11 at the Steam Whistle Brewery allowed attendees to greet one another before the convention got down to business the next morning. Master of Ceremonies Sylvain Demers opened the joint delegates' breakfast Thursday morning, May 12 by singing the national anthems of the United States and Canada. He called the fact that the association was holding its 80th annual convention "somewhat of a milestone, as it seems increasingly rare among institutions nowadays to be around for so long.
Keynote speaker Dr. Brian Little of Harvard University spoke about the differences between introverted people and extroverted people, asking attendees of the breakfast session to rate themselves based on 10 personality traits. He discussed some of the differences between the two types, and said that in any business relationship, one should learn to deal respectfully with both types. As he put it, "This has been a plea for tolerance and a plea to take care of yourselves.
In one of the workshops following the breakfast, called Produce for Success, which was moderated by Jim DiMenna of J.D. Marketing Inc. in Leamington, ON, two speakers from ACNielsen spoke about the changing demographic, social and retail landscape and how change at each level is likely to affect the produce industry in Canada.
Anthony J. Marino, vice president at ACNielsen, addressed some of the changes among producers, retailers and consumers.
Among producers, he said that the total number of farms in Canada is down 18 percent since 1981, although the proportion of produce farms is up 1 percent. Greenhouse farming in particular has shown a big increase, with acreage almost tripling during the last 20 years.
He noted that fruits and vegetables are among the faster-growing segments of Canada's agri-food exports, but as a cold-weather country, "imports are still important.
Supermarkets are "still the mainstay where most consumers purchase their produce, he said, but there are trends which may affect supermarkets' traditional role. There is modest real growth in retail produce sales, there is a weakening of consumer loyalty, and other merchandisers (for example club stores, convenience stores and mass merchandisers) are selling produce and taking away from traditional retailers. Grocery stores still had a 72 percent market share in 2004, he said, but that's down 1 percent from 2002.
Regarding consumers, Mr. Marino pointed to Canada's stagnant population growth, an aging population, a culturally diverse population (with more immigrants from Asia), smaller household sizes, an increasingly stressed population (which often portends more impulse sales) and more people who are overweight (which could lead to a desire for healthier foods, such as fresh produce).
Janet Devlin, marketing and sales manager at ACNielsen, said that demand for fresh produce has never been higher, "retailers are really emphasizing the produce section, and less common items are seeing strong growth with consumers.
"Our message, she said, is that "everything is changing, a concept which should be embraced for the good of the produce industry. "Produce is the window of the store, she said. Produce is "front and center and is what drives consumers into the stores.
She urged producers and retailers to "be innovative. For example, smaller households are looking for smaller packaging and smaller sizes, "so let's cater to smaller families.
In the area of understanding today's consumers, she suggested "playing up the local origin of product, doing more cross promotions that pull from multiple departments, putting produce displays in unexpected areas of a supermarket, posting more information on the Internet, and playing up the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables.
After the joint delegates' luncheon, where ROBTV 2005's New York bureau chief Bruce Sellery spoke, convention Chair Mary Fitzgerald of Chiquita Fresh North America and 2004-05 CPMA Chairman Wayne McKnight of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cut the ribbon Thursday, May 12 to open the two-day trade show, which saw a record 326 booths.
Friday, May 13 began with the joint delegates breakfast and a presentation by Jeff Ansell titled "Media Strategies to Get Your Message Across. Mr. Ansell did a mock interview with CPMA's Ron Lemaire, and then spoke about how to talk to the media, especially during a crisis situation.
He advised attendees to use the media to sell your product, to know what you want to say, and to make sure that you have a message when you respond to questions. More specifically, he suggested that attendees breathe (to help relax), to say "Excuse me to force the interviewer to repeat the question (and give more time to think before responding) and ask the interviewer to explain the context of the question.
After two more business sessions, Friday's lunch began with Bill Lamberton, former vice president of marketing at Westjet, who gave a history of the company from its inception on Feb. 29, 1996 as a regional airline with a few aircraft until the present day, when it is "truly a national carrier.
Mr. Lemaire then spoke on the 5 to 10 A Day program, noting that CPMA undertakes an "integral approach to achieve its long-term goal of increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The idea of an integral approach to the 5 to 10 A Day program led nicely into one of the highlights of the convention: the presentation of the Fresh Health Award, sponsored jointly since its inception in 1997 by The Produce News and CPMA.
Noting the vital contributions made by regional groups to the national 5 to 10 A Day program, Daniel Jalil of The Produce News presented this year's award to the British Columbia, Calgary, Ontario and Quebec produce marketing associations.
The association also presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to two women: Mary FitzGerald of Chiquita Canada, a CPMA director, 2005 convention chairperson and 2002 convention entertainment committee chair; and Faye Clack, chief executive officer of Faye Clack Marketing, who also received the 1997 Ontario Produce Marketing Association's Outstanding Achievement Award and is a past director of the OPMA.
Saturday morning's activities began with a choice of retail tours and ended with the annual banquet reception and dinner in the Metro Toronto Convention Center.
For those who like to plan ahead, next year's convention and trade show will take place March 22-25 in Vancouver, BC. The March date was chosen due to space availability at the convention center in Vancouver, according to CPMA, and the schedule of late April-early May will continue in 2007.
Attendance at the convention, held here May 11-14, reached a record 3,450 from 17 different countries, according to the association. Last year about 3,300 people attended the show Feb. 4-7 in Calgary, AB. Formerly held in the dead of winter, the Toronto convention marked the first time CPMA held its annual gathering in the spring.
This year's trade show saw 326 exhibitors, up dramatically from 275 last year. "We had outstanding participation in the trade show," an enthusiastic Ron Lemaire, CPMA's director of marketing, told The Produce News, with a "good mix of exhibitors. "We had a great turnout of wholesalers and foodservice & and good participation from the U.S. on the retail side.
"This tremendous growth is directly related to the outstanding efforts of the Toronto organizing committee and the commitment of Chairman Wayne McKnight, vice president of global food procurement at Wal-Mart Inc., Walt Breeden, Vancouver convention chairman and Canadian sales manager for The Oppenheimer Group in Vancouver, BC, said in a CPMA news release. "As the chairman of the 2006 Vancouver convention, we hope to build on the Toronto success and provide delegates and exhibitors with an equally positive experience next year in Vancouver.
The chairman's reception Wednesday evening, May 11 at the Steam Whistle Brewery allowed attendees to greet one another before the convention got down to business the next morning. Master of Ceremonies Sylvain Demers opened the joint delegates' breakfast Thursday morning, May 12 by singing the national anthems of the United States and Canada. He called the fact that the association was holding its 80th annual convention "somewhat of a milestone, as it seems increasingly rare among institutions nowadays to be around for so long.
Keynote speaker Dr. Brian Little of Harvard University spoke about the differences between introverted people and extroverted people, asking attendees of the breakfast session to rate themselves based on 10 personality traits. He discussed some of the differences between the two types, and said that in any business relationship, one should learn to deal respectfully with both types. As he put it, "This has been a plea for tolerance and a plea to take care of yourselves.
In one of the workshops following the breakfast, called Produce for Success, which was moderated by Jim DiMenna of J.D. Marketing Inc. in Leamington, ON, two speakers from ACNielsen spoke about the changing demographic, social and retail landscape and how change at each level is likely to affect the produce industry in Canada.
Anthony J. Marino, vice president at ACNielsen, addressed some of the changes among producers, retailers and consumers.
Among producers, he said that the total number of farms in Canada is down 18 percent since 1981, although the proportion of produce farms is up 1 percent. Greenhouse farming in particular has shown a big increase, with acreage almost tripling during the last 20 years.
He noted that fruits and vegetables are among the faster-growing segments of Canada's agri-food exports, but as a cold-weather country, "imports are still important.
Supermarkets are "still the mainstay where most consumers purchase their produce, he said, but there are trends which may affect supermarkets' traditional role. There is modest real growth in retail produce sales, there is a weakening of consumer loyalty, and other merchandisers (for example club stores, convenience stores and mass merchandisers) are selling produce and taking away from traditional retailers. Grocery stores still had a 72 percent market share in 2004, he said, but that's down 1 percent from 2002.
Regarding consumers, Mr. Marino pointed to Canada's stagnant population growth, an aging population, a culturally diverse population (with more immigrants from Asia), smaller household sizes, an increasingly stressed population (which often portends more impulse sales) and more people who are overweight (which could lead to a desire for healthier foods, such as fresh produce).
Janet Devlin, marketing and sales manager at ACNielsen, said that demand for fresh produce has never been higher, "retailers are really emphasizing the produce section, and less common items are seeing strong growth with consumers.
"Our message, she said, is that "everything is changing, a concept which should be embraced for the good of the produce industry. "Produce is the window of the store, she said. Produce is "front and center and is what drives consumers into the stores.
She urged producers and retailers to "be innovative. For example, smaller households are looking for smaller packaging and smaller sizes, "so let's cater to smaller families.
In the area of understanding today's consumers, she suggested "playing up the local origin of product, doing more cross promotions that pull from multiple departments, putting produce displays in unexpected areas of a supermarket, posting more information on the Internet, and playing up the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables.
After the joint delegates' luncheon, where ROBTV 2005's New York bureau chief Bruce Sellery spoke, convention Chair Mary Fitzgerald of Chiquita Fresh North America and 2004-05 CPMA Chairman Wayne McKnight of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cut the ribbon Thursday, May 12 to open the two-day trade show, which saw a record 326 booths.
Friday, May 13 began with the joint delegates breakfast and a presentation by Jeff Ansell titled "Media Strategies to Get Your Message Across. Mr. Ansell did a mock interview with CPMA's Ron Lemaire, and then spoke about how to talk to the media, especially during a crisis situation.
He advised attendees to use the media to sell your product, to know what you want to say, and to make sure that you have a message when you respond to questions. More specifically, he suggested that attendees breathe (to help relax), to say "Excuse me to force the interviewer to repeat the question (and give more time to think before responding) and ask the interviewer to explain the context of the question.
After two more business sessions, Friday's lunch began with Bill Lamberton, former vice president of marketing at Westjet, who gave a history of the company from its inception on Feb. 29, 1996 as a regional airline with a few aircraft until the present day, when it is "truly a national carrier.
Mr. Lemaire then spoke on the 5 to 10 A Day program, noting that CPMA undertakes an "integral approach to achieve its long-term goal of increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The idea of an integral approach to the 5 to 10 A Day program led nicely into one of the highlights of the convention: the presentation of the Fresh Health Award, sponsored jointly since its inception in 1997 by The Produce News and CPMA.
Noting the vital contributions made by regional groups to the national 5 to 10 A Day program, Daniel Jalil of The Produce News presented this year's award to the British Columbia, Calgary, Ontario and Quebec produce marketing associations.
The association also presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to two women: Mary FitzGerald of Chiquita Canada, a CPMA director, 2005 convention chairperson and 2002 convention entertainment committee chair; and Faye Clack, chief executive officer of Faye Clack Marketing, who also received the 1997 Ontario Produce Marketing Association's Outstanding Achievement Award and is a past director of the OPMA.
Saturday morning's activities began with a choice of retail tours and ended with the annual banquet reception and dinner in the Metro Toronto Convention Center.
For those who like to plan ahead, next year's convention and trade show will take place March 22-25 in Vancouver, BC. The March date was chosen due to space availability at the convention center in Vancouver, according to CPMA, and the schedule of late April-early May will continue in 2007.
