The International Fresh Produce Association recently hosted its annual School Foodservice Partner X-Change, a virtual "speed meeting" program designed to connect school menu planners with produce grower-shippers and solution providers.

Over two days, IFPA coordinated one-on-one virtual meetings between suppliers and K-12 school nutrition leaders. New this year, the program also included college and university foodservice leaders. The meetings created an opportunity for dialogue across sectors that rarely connect directly.

"The meetings sparked so many actionable ideas for our operations," said Jeff Weissinger, assistant director of campus dining at Vanderbilt University. "It was a fantastic opportunity to learn, collaborate and explore new possibilities for expanding fresh produce on our menus."

A critical challenge

Ninety percent of Americans still do not consume the recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables, according to federal dietary guidelines. Increasing consumption among the nation's youngest consumers is essential to changing that trajectory.

Schools represent one of the most powerful levers in shaping lifelong eating habits. Across the United States, more than 30 million children participate in the National School Lunch Program daily, with fruits and vegetables required components of every meal served.

Yet historically, most grower-shippers communicate primarily with foodservice distributors, not directly with school menu planners. Likewise, school nutrition leaders often only interact with the distributor that wins their district's produce bid. IFPA's program aims to close that gap by creating direct conversations between produce suppliers and operators, providing school leaders with greater visibility into available produce variety, pack sizes, value-added solutions and nutrition education materials.

"If you think about scale, no other foodservice segment serves as many meals, and as consistently, as these institutional customers," said Andrew Marshall, who leads IFPA's engagement with school operators and wholesaler-distributor members. "That's why we often refer to them as the 'largest restaurant in town.'"

Growing consumption

The program addresses two priorities for the produce industry: increasing consumption and expanding market opportunities.

Early exposure to a wider variety of fruits and vegetables helps build acceptance, preference and lifelong demand. At the same time, K-12 and college foodservice operators represent large-volume buyers, serving tens of thousands of meals per day.

For participating companies, the conversations provide insight into school menu development, labor constraints, budget realities and nutrition standards.

"This was one of the most effective industry events I've attended," said Stacy Koppen, nutrition services director for Saint Paul Public Schools in Minnesota. "We found these meetings to be incredibly valuable — the format was fast-paced, engaging and gave us meaningful time with each grower and partner."

"These conversations push us to think beyond simply adding another product to the menu," said Solon Pietila, associate director of culinary and senior executive chef at Washington State University. "We're exploring how the experience around a product, such as tastings, storytelling and campus engagement can influence student choice and build real buy-in."

"This year's program was perfectly timed to reconnect with the school audience," said Megan McKenna, senior director of marketing and foodservice at the National Watermelon Promotion Board. "The meetings were long enough to make a connection and establish next steps."

Extending the impact

The School Foodservice Partner X-Change is part of IFPA's broader commitment to strengthening school-industry collaboration, including continued engagement at the IFPA Foodservice Conference. In recent years, IFPA has coordinated a K-12 school forum programming track, and at last year's conference welcomed more than 20 college and university dining directors and chefs.

The next IFPA Foodservice Conference is scheduled for July 23-24 in Monterey, CA.