Southern Exposure 2026 was a family affair
Southern Exposure 2026 was a family affair
The Southeast Produce Council returned to the Orlando World Center Marriott for the 2026 Southern Exposure. Farm and family was the theme and as usual, the Southeast Produce Council did not disappoint. The floor was busy from open to close as show-goers conducted business and fostered relationships.
Prior to the opening of the expo, keynote speaker John Maxwell, world-renowned leadership author, speaker and coach, emphasized the important role strong leadership plays in running a successful business.
Travis Boyle, John Carter, Sarah Matejowsky, Kimberley Magnum and Chris Harris of Sunkist Growers.
Cody Ramsey, Sybil Faulconbridge and Thomas Wheelus of Tanimura & Antle.
Wendy Everhart and Halee Favor of Stemilt Growers.
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Patrick Cortes, Desirae Perez and Josh Thorne of Prime Time Produce.
David Baxter and Alan Asbury of Bard Valley Date Growers.
Sherry Harper and Adrian Espinoza of Beachside Produce.
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Ryan Callahan, Chuck Sinks, Noah Croft, Brad Hansman and Tim Colln of Honeybear Brands.
Katie Vierra, Susan Noratake, Bailey Reyneveld and Mike Valpredo of Bako Sweet.
Maurice A. Auerbach was represented by Kelvia Payero, Bruce Klein, Ian Zimmerman, Josh Auerbach and Paul Auerbach.
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Brenda Briggs and Kristi Kraft of Rice Fruit Co.
At the La Bonanza booth offering refreshing avocado lemonade were Daiana Quintero, Harrison Gordon, Patrick McGinnis and Valeria Villaseñor.
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David and Leidy Lipson of Valued Naturals promoted their full line of snack mixes in the Innovation Station at SEPC Southern Exposure.
Buona Foods, a mushroom grower in Kennett Square, PA, was represented by Chris Johansen and Gale Ferranto.
Jim Fountain, Dan Fujan and Lori Osborne of Fresherized/MegaMex Foods.
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Walking the show floor at SEPC Southern Exposure were Marcus Albinder and Alisha Albinder-Camac.
Jordan Carter and Greg Leger of Leger & Son.
Andres Ocampo of HLB Specialties.
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David Barton, Joe Esta and Kevin Stanger of Wada Farms.
The team at Richter & Co.
Eddie Frye and Tammy Rucker of Bargain Barn United Grocery Outlet.
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David Santucci and Kirk Wilson of Giorgio Fresh Co.
Mike Burke, Whitney Lett, Jonathan McDaniel and Dan Murphy of the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.
Jason Herndon, Madison Herndon, Brandon Helton and John Williams of L.G. Herndon Jr. Farms.
Ronny and Tina Collins with John Strickland of Vidalia Sweet Produce.
Chris Gonzalez and Willy Pardo of WP Produce with Cody Gonzales of HEB.
Ryan Williams, Derek Rodgers, Matt Kastensmidt and Katie Baker of Florida Classic Growers.
Alan Chavez, Kay Prevette and Tracy Bottomley of Bottomley Farms.
Joel Galli of Southern Corporate Packers with Ralph Laderoot and Paul Suttmiller of Ben B. Schwartz.
Dylan Lang, Austin Fowler and Michael Hacker of Fowler Farms.
The team at Continental Fresh.
Geoff Kyle and Tara Glazer of Fresh Taste Produce USA.
Charlotte Vick and Ken Sikes of Vick Family Farms.
The team at Pure Flavor.
Tiffany Readinger, Lela Reichart, Jesse Shadle and Kathy Sponheim of Fresh Solutions Network.
At the Avocados from Mexico booth were Alfonso Delgado, Stephanie Bazan, Tanya Edwards and Oscar Garcia.
The Bobalu team.
Samantha Gilbert and Jaylie Lourens of Matthews Ridgeview Farms.
Hilda Medina and Jeff Hutterer of Ocean Mist Farms.
Kyle Lane, Leslie Germain and Myisha Nathaniel of Westfalia Fruit.
Samantha Young and Denise Fischer of Peri & Sons Farms.
Bob Licker, Paul Grothe, Patrick McErlean and Christopher Lambert of Church Brothers Farm.
Troy Krichmar, Jay Krichmar and Matt Rieti of Krichmar Produce with Rich Marolda Jr. of Sweetvine LLC.
Alyson and Mark Rogowski of O&R Packaging.
Joseph Liberta and Rory Liberta of Wick & Brother Inc.
Mark Danza, Leahna West, John Sbrocco and Maclaren Oglesby of Sbrocco International.
Jerry Butt of The Mixtec Group.
From the Affinity Group were Jeffrey Sheets, Kaitlyn Hough, Bob McGowan, Greg Pellegrino and Shayne Gordon.
Rich Pazderski, Brian Silvas, Jeff Rhoden and Zach Allen of Bland Farms.
Gregory Kurkjian, Kyle Lind and Liam Slavin of Oasis Date.
Oscar Ramirez, Jackie Nakashian and Kristyn Lawson of Trinity Fruit Co.
Jason Sadoian, Monique Mueller and Joe Berberian of Bee Sweet Citrus.
Bob Meek of Masser Family of Cos. and Kathy Michael Sponheim of Michael Family Farms.
John Patrick, Moriah Lingenfelter and Daniel Sebetic of Oppy with Blair Greenhilll of NIckey Gregory Co.
Elena Hernandez and Angelic Meza of Sun World International.
The Giumarra team.
Bill and Jimmy Nardelli of Nardelli Bros.
Bertha Briseno and Ana Paco of The Salad Farm.
Sarai Singh and Linda Gilroy of Driscoll’s.
Jessica Salerno, Lola Salerno and Bob Flaim of R&R Flaim Next Generation Produce.
Walking the show floor at SEPC Southern Exposure were Brad Hymen, Ken Gray and Marc Turner of Bushwick Commission.
Adrienne Barrero and Lavanya Setia at the National Mango Board booth.
With their carrot mascot at the Freshouse/Hapco Farms booth were Carlos Alvaro, Chuck Dechene, Kimberly Bourbeau, Kaitlyn Anderson and Harris Trock.
Tara Murray, Crystal Berry and Jay Alley handed out samples of Yo Quiero! dips throughout the afternoon.
At the Global Harvest booth were Paul Jaffa and Stefanie Katzman.
The team at Nickey Gregory Co.
Jody McPherson of American Blueberries with David Arena of Frank Donio Inc.
Sarah Bodnar, Gabriela Schrenk, Rhonda Benson and Caitlin Tierney of Fresh Express.
Geoff Taft, Mike Owens, Stewart Mann, Morgan Pearce Derek Hall and Jacob Carter of Pioneer Growers.
The Village Fresh Greenhouse Grown team.
The Oso Sweet team.
Darryl Bollack, Matt Mariani and Brad Ryan of Mariani Nut.
Matt Hubbard and Baltazar Garcia of Local Bounti.
Brook Hernandez, Bobby Barton and Jill Bartonof Jim Rash Inc.
Jesse Shadle, Lela Reichart and Zach Artz of Fresh-Solutions-Network.
Deborah-Dijkhuizen and Delina Fresh team.
Ryan Easter, Kevin Steiner, Rob Brett, Brian Polson, Krista Beckstead and Carlos Acuna of Mountain View Fruit.
Katelyn Filkins, Brenda Zamora, Peter Fatse and Jared Lane of Pure Fresh.
David Bradley, Robin Narron, Randi Ricks and Thomas Joyner of Nash Produce.
Sharon Robb, Chuck Yow and Hannah Gaither of North Bay Produce.
Travis Hess, Tiffany Cruickshank and Mark Malburg of Onions 52 Inc.
Marsha Pozza of Volm Cos.
Phil Neary, Catalina Garcia Quick and Glenn McNeely of Pratt Agriculture.
Thomas Reimann of JBT Marel.
Michael Fernandes, Angel Garcia, Mattie Fisher and Jack Garrison of John Greene Logistics.
Maggie Bezart, Manuel Michel and Meg Buchsbaum of Colombia Avocado Board.
At the William H. Kopke booth were Damon Francis, Matt Maronski, Nicolas Giordano, Christine McCullough and Tyler Wolowicz.
Patrick Mills, Mark Daniels and Matt Zapczynski of the Idaho Potato Commission.
At the Exp Group booth were Priscilla Diaz, Richard Armata and Leslie Hernandez.
Ian Otto, Tara Smith and Lance Smith of Smith’s Farm.
At the Phillips Mushroom Farms booth were Larissa Rice and Sean Steller.
Nicole Furukawa, Max Dickstein, Ashley Lam and Larry Mitchell of Natalie’s Orchid Island.
Michael D’Amato of Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Co.
Walking the show floor at SEPC Southern Exposure were Giovanni and JC Cavaletto.
Susana Troop of Southern Specialties.
Jeff Church, Patrick Mcerlean, Paul Grothe and Christopher Lambert of Church Bros. Farms.
The team at Lange.
The team at East Coast Farms & Vegetable/ East Coast Growers Family of Farms.
Chef Luis Del Hoyo and Denise Gomez of JC Tropicals.
JC Myers, Matt Mandel and Pedro Balderrama of SunFed.
Ben Harmon, Stephanie Torres and Justin Dougherty of Mission Produce.
Matthew Sabelli and Max Mastronardi of Topline Farms/ Westmoreland Sales.
The Consalo Family Farms team.
Jose Cambon, Kelsey Coon and Sabrina Pokomandy of Highline Mushrooms.
Juana Henry, Alex Jackson and Abby McPherson of Freida's.
The Taylor Farms/Earthbound Farms team.
John Magna of Trucco and Molly Yeh from Food Network series Girl Meets Farm.
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