“We turned 25 years old as a company on Jan. 1 of this year, so we’ll be celebrating this milestone,” said Andrew Scott, vice president of business development and marketing for the Forest Park, GA-based company. “Also, we launched a retail support division back in October, where we’re working with independent retailers in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, so we’ll be talking about that.”

Scott said Nickey Gregory is focusing on smaller, independent retailers, and that making the move into retail was something the company had been thinking about and working on for a few years.

Nickey Gregory is on the Atlanta State Farmers Market and has two warehouses. Another key aspect of its operation is its processing division, Family Fresh Foods, which started in 2018.“We made some key hires who have helped us and who really know this business very well,” he said. “With our processing division, we spent a lot of money on the front end, buying machinery and getting that up running. Whereas with the retail division, even though we have the spoke and wheel of the warehouse and trucks, we had to find the right people. That was the key, hiring five to six people to help us run this, and it’s going well. We started off slow like we wanted to and are ramping it up.”

This year’s SEPC show is offering Nickey Gregory Co. a terrific opportunity to spread the word of its work with independent retailers, and to build on those efforts.

“We have a number of customers who attend,” he said. “This is our favorite show of the year to attend. We have a booth there as well, No. 701. So, we have customers and we have our vendors there. We’ll be bringing a couple of our buyers to walk the floor and visit our vendors, as well. It’s not just seeing customers. The vendors, the growers, the shippers and farmers drive our business.”

Another key aspect of any Southern Exposure show is that individuals from throughout the industry get together to talk about events and topics that are impacting the produce industry. Scott said tariffs, and the potential for them, is sure to be on attendees’ minds.

“For sure, with this new administration, with tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which will raise prices that you have to pass on to your customers and then consumers, that will be a big topic because there will be Mexican and Canadian vendors down there exhibiting so I can see that being a big deal,” Scott said.

When asked what makes the Southern Exposure show such an important event, Scott said a lot of it has to do with the people who attend it.

“There are a lot of decision-makers there, that’s what we like about it,” he said. “The ‘heavy hitters’ are down there, from companies across the United States in foodservice and in retail; Canada and Mexico as well. It’s a great show that hasn’t gotten too big. It’s very manageable and always works out great for us.”