MONTEREY, CA — The Produce Marketing Association's Foodservice Conference and Expo, held here July 20-21, was a robust success, according to Bryan Silbermann, president of the organization.

"We have record attendance this year for operators, and a record attendance overall," Mr. Silbermann told The Produce News shortly after the exhibits opened July 22. "We are substantially ahead of our record for last year, and that was before the show even opened, so I am sure we will have well over 1,800 before this is over. Last year we hadExecutive Chef Tony Baker of Montrio Bistro in Monterey, CA, demonstrated the preparation of an "artichoke veggie burger with chipotle lime mayo and arti-guac" for the PMA Foodservice Conference & Expo's Chef Demo Challenge: Healthy & Flavorful Kid's Menu. Interviewing Chef Baker as he does the demo is celebrity chef and chef consultant Robert Danhi. 1,700."

In addition, "we have the largest number of exhibitors we have ever had ... not that we can expand very much because of the physical constraints. I think it is 161 exhibitors. They are shoehorned into every corner we can find," he said.

The focus for the conference and expo in past years "really has been on networking, educating and new products," Mr. Silbermann said. "What we have really done this year is to integrate into everything about this conference the goals of Foodservice 2020, which is doubling the consumption of produce by the year 2020 in foodservice sector" over what they were in 2010 when the Foodservice 2020 initiative was launched.

All of the components of the event this year were incorporated that theme or were built around it, he said.

As an example, the Chef Demo Challenge luncheon on July 21 had a kids menu theme that focused on creating meals utilizing produce that will appeal to kids, Mr. Silbermann said. "In the flavor profiles session this morning" as well as the menu development themes in all the workshops, were "focused on how do you increase consumption of produce in foodservice." The other thing that is really important to look at is we made a very conscious effort to increase not just the number of distributors but also operators here," and not just from restaurants but also from school and college foodservice and nontraditional foodservice segments, he said.

The main messages of the sessions were "understanding consumer needs, number one, and number two, understanding menu concepts," Mr. Silbermann said. All too often our business from the supply side is focused on 'I've grown the stuff, now let's figure out a way for you to use it.' More and more, over the last 10 years, we have tried to get people understanding the role of menu development in the procurement lifecycle here for foodservice. It is all about understanding what the menu development chefs really want and you come to them with concepts and possibilities and innovative new products."