Wada Farms heads to Southern Exposure with clear goals, long-term focus
Wada Farms heads to Southern Exposure with clear goals, long-term focus
As Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure approached, Wada Farms is solidifying its plans to ensure it gets the most out of the show.
“Southern Exposure has always been a relationship-driven show, and that aligns well with who we are as a company,” said Eric Beck, director of marketing for the Idaho Falls, ID-based company. “We’re coming to SEPC to sit down with our retail and foodservice partners, review programs in a straightforward way and make sure we’re aligned for the back half of 2025 and into the 2026 crop.”
Wada’s primary goals, he noted, are simple but important.
“To reaffirm our commitment to consistent quality and supply, to listen carefully to what our customers are seeing at store level and to identify a few disciplined growth opportunities in potatoes, onions and sweet potatoes, rather than trying to do everything at once,” Beck said. “We view SEPC less as a splashy event and more as a focused working session with the people who trust us with their categories.”
Wada will be bringing a cross-functional group that represents its core disciplines: sales, marketing and category management, along with key leadership from the marketing group. Kevin Stanger (president), Joe Esta (vice president) and Dave Barton are among those representing Team Wada.
“This mix allows us to have practical conversations — everything from long-term sourcing and program design to day-to-day execution at store and DC level,” Beck said. “Our strategy is to be intentional with our time. Each team member has a targeted schedule of customer meetings, and we go in with clear objectives: reviewing current programs, discussing upcoming promotional windows and aligning on how we can support our partners’ margin and velocity goals. We’d rather have a few high-quality, substantive conversations than a long list of quick greetings.”
The company will be at booth No. 530 on the expo floor.
“Visitors to the booth will see exactly what they expect from us: a clean, straightforward presentation of our Idaho potatoes, onions and sweet potatoes, supported by the disciplined supply chain behind them,” Beck said. “We’ll also highlight our role as the exclusive marketer for Dolebranded potatoes, onions and sweet potatoes, which continues to be a strong point of differentiation for our customers.”
Beck expects a lot of discussion around crop size and quality, pricing stability and promotional windows — the fundamentals that drive the category.
“Retailers want to know what they can count on in terms of volume and sizing, and how aggressive they can be on ads without introducing unnecessary risk,” he said. “Beyond that, I anticipate substantive conversations on sustainability reporting requirements, data sharing and private brand strategy. Many of our partners are trying to streamline assortments while still giving shoppers a sense of choice and quality. Our job is to bring a realistic view of the fields, the storages and the supply chain, and then help them build programs that will hold up over an entire season.”
Networking at SEPC is more than exchanging business cards; it’s about reinforcing trust.
“This show brings together the decision-makers who influence how the potato, onion and sweet potato categories are run,” Beck said. “For us, that face-to-face time is invaluable. From a growth standpoint, we’re not chasing rapid, shortterm volume. We’re focused on deepening long-term relationships where we can be a dependable partner year in and year out. SEPC gives us a setting to listen carefully, understand each customer’s constraints, and make sure our plans support their strategy.”
A successful show for Wada is measured less by how busy the booth felt and more by whether it leaves with clear, actionable next steps with its partners.
“If, at the end of SEPC, we can point to a handful of strengthened customer relationships, programs that have been clarified or improved and new opportunities that are realistic and aligned with our capacity, then we consider it a win,” Beck said, “When we look back, we want to be able to say we listened more than we talked, that we were honest about what we can and cannot do and that our customers walked away with increased confidence in our ability to execute.”
