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Record crowd enjoys Southern Innovations 2024

By
Gordon M. Hochberg

NASHVILLE, TN — The Southeast Produce Council introduced a few changes to this year’s recently completed Southern Innovations 2024 conference and expo, and by all accounts, the attendees embraced and welcomed them.

Among those changes, attendees had an extra hour to walk the trade show floor, and no events were scheduled afterwards, so attendees had the evening free. The Chairman’s Dinner Dance, which previously took place after the expo, was moved to Saturday evening. In addition, there was no keynote luncheon and address.

Dav
David Sherrod and Mike Roberts.

Southern Innovations 2024 took place from Thursday, Sept. 12, to Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, here.

“We had over 1,400 people check in and almost 200 exhibitors,” David Sherrod, the council’s president and CEO, told The Produce News Monday, Sept. 16. “That’s the largest SI ever.”

But Sherrod doesn’t actually like to talk about numbers. “It was good to see all the people there, but it’s more about quality and not quantity,” he stated. “The great thing about this SI is we had a lot of new exhibitors, which is important for our retail and foodservice buyers.”

Sherrod also spoke about the many highlights at this year’s event.

“The ‘What’s New’ report that Anne-Marie Roerink put out for us was very insightful, with a lot of good information,” he said. “This year we were able to take a 360-degree view from the industry. We didn’t just take it from consumers, we also asked retailers and shipper-packers their opinions, and we were able to mold all that information into a really good comprehensive report. I do believe that it was well received. It was a great takeaway and return on people’s investment. We’re blessed to have Anne-Marie in this organization.”

Regarding Southern Roots, the council’s leadership program for women in produce, and the new Good Seeds MENtor Program, Sherrod stated, “Our men’s and women’s programs have taken a step forward this year. I wasn’t in attendance at Southern Roots, but the ladies that I trust told me that it was a great personal developments program for people to really get to know what kind of person they are and how that fits into their day-to-day activities at work.”

Mike Roberts of Harps Food Stores and outgoing chairman of the board of directors handed the gavel to incoming Chairman Kristin Yerecic Scott of Yerecic Label
Mike Roberts of Harps Food Stores and outgoing chairman of the
board of directors handed the gavel to incoming Chairman Kristin
Yerecic Scott of Yerecic Label.

He continued, “I know the Good Seeds program is doing what we wanted it to do. We had a dynamic speaker that really talked to us about being men in this industry with integrity. Sometimes we go to these events and it’s about produce this and numbers that. But it’s more about the people than just the produce. I think these two programs are showing that we’re looking at the people in this industry and we can be better. And if we can be better people, we’ll have a better industry. That’s what Southern Roots and Good Seeds are doing.”

More generally, he said, “It’s all about our hearts. Is your heart in the right place? We all don’t have to have the same opinions about things. But everybody that comes to any SEPC event, we’re just trying to make sure that we treat each other with love and respect. If we all keep doing that, everything’s going to be great. That is what makes going to one of our events different.”

Commenting on the slightly longer trade show, Sherrod stated, “The extra hour was received very well. All trade shows break down a little early, but this show went almost the distance. I saw so many buyers still on the floor at 5:30, quarter to 6. Everybody felt it was the right amount of time, and we didn’t have any scheduled event that followed it. People got to choose what they wanted to do after the trade show. People had time to have their own events or enjoy the city or just have some down time.”

At the Chairman’s Dinner Dance, Mike Roberts of Harps Food Stores and outgoing chairman of the board of directors handed the gavel to incoming Chairman Kristin Yerecic Scott of Yerecic Label, who was joined on stage by Sloan Lott of Bland Farms as vice chairman, Gary Baker of Merchants Distributors LLC as secretary, and Derek Ennis of L&M Cos. as treasurer, along with the full 2024-25 board.

Former NFL star Benjamin Watson (center), who spoke at the Good Seeds MENtor session, flanked by David Sherrod and Mike Roberts of SEPC.
Former NFL star Benjamin Watson (center), who spoke at the Good Seeds
MENtor session, flanked by David Sherrod and Mike Roberts of SEPC.

The STEP-UPP Retail and STEP-UPP Foodservice graduates were celebrated, as were the Fresh Chefs scholarship recipients.

The Board of Governors surprised Sherrod with The Governors Cup in recognition of his 10 years at the helm of the council. “I was humbled beyond belief,” stated Sherrod. “You could hardly hear what I said over the crying, but I stand on the shoulders of a lot of great men and women in this industry and this council.”

The evening ended with a dynamic 1980s rock-n-roll concert that featured vocalists from the bands Foreigner, Journey and Asia.

Sherrod also revealed some possible changes that the council is contemplating for Southern Innovations 2025 next September in Charlotte, NC.

“We definitely are looking at ending the show on Friday, so everyone can go home on Saturday morning,” he said. “We celebrate that people want to be with their families. Home life means a lot to SEPC.”

The golf tournament and sporting clays classic might take place on Tuesday before the official opening, but “we’re still working through a lot of details,” he noted. “None of those things are final. We’re a year out. We do know that the event will end on Friday night. From all the surveys we’ve done, that would be a welcomed change.”

Exhibitor comments
As the expo was winding down, The Produce News spoke to some of the exhibitors, who shared their thoughts on the expo, Southern Innovations and the council in general.

“Southern Innovations is unique because it’s a bit smaller than the one in March,” said Sabrina Pokomandy of Highline Mushrooms, referring to the Southern Exposure, the council’s bigger conference and trade show held generally the first week in March. “I think people come here with a different goal. You still have a little bit of extra socializing time, which I think was” the case at what “they used to call the fall conference. I think people who have been around a while know that that’s what this is about: taking the time together even on the show floor.”

She said that Friday morning’s educational session on “What’s New,” led by Anne-Marie Roerink, president of 210 Analytics LLC, “was really good — being able to sit with a retailer, sit with other grower-shippers and talk. So over all it was very successful. And Anne-Marie is really good. It was a great session.”

Pokomandy said she was “absolutely looking forward to the Chairman’s Dinner Dance” on Saturday. “And it will be interesting to see the band and the concert. I always stay the whole weekend. This is a great group of people. It’s family here, it’s family.”

Corrine Barry of Little Leaf Farms commented on the traffic on the show floor. “It’s actually pretty busy even now when we are near the end,” she said. “There’s still a lot of people out there. It’s been very well attended.”

Asked if she was seeing a good mix of buyers, she said, “Yes, great attendance this year. We’ve pretty much seen everyone we expected to see, which is great. There’s a good mix. There’s wholesalers, foodservice, retailers, a little bit of everybody.”

Asked what she likes about the SEPC events, she replied, “I think the location is always a big draw, especially here in Nashville. I think people love to come to Nashville. It’s a great location. Everything is here all in one place, which makes it a lot easier. I also really like that these shows are typically a little bit smaller so they’re a little bit more intimate than some of the larger ones. And typically, it’s a really nice environment.”

Asked whether she would be attending Southern Exposure in March, she declared enthusiastically, “I sure will be. That’s usually one of my favorites each year.” She especially likes the Florida location each year. “I live in the Northeast, so it’s always nice to go somewhere warm in the winter. I like to get away from the cold weather,” she said with a laugh.

She concluded, “I just think it’s a great lineup. It’s always very well done with a great schedule of events. And the timing is great. It’s just so well done.”

Maclaren Ogelsby of Sbrocco International said, “The expo’s been excellent. We’ve seen numerous customers, new opportunities with some of the retailers and buyers that are here. Traffic has been continuous all day. We haven’t stopped! We’re constantly having to refill water just to keep our whistles wet in order to make sure we keep up with the demand of interest,” he quipped.

Referring to this show in particular, he stated, “We can’t say enough about what Southern Innovations is doing to drive our industry partners here to a destination location that’s been great.”

As to the traffic specifically, Ogelsby said, “As soon as the doors opened, it’s been a constant flow of buyers. We were lucky enough to be in a really great location. We’re flanked by awesome people in the industry as well, so we’re constantly having folks come by. We’re three-quarters of the way through the [trade show] and it still hasn’t slowed down. There’s a ton of traffic.”

The host city of Nashville this year doesn’t hurt either. “Having it in Music City is just the icing on the cake because of the fact that we’re in a great destination location that a lot of people are happy to be at,” he declared.

As to SI in particular, he said, “Southern Innovations is really built on the idea that we can come together and discuss new and exciting things within the industry. We are innovating in the fact that we have what’s-new research that is complemented by real retail, real distributor, real grower-shipper feedback. You have Southern Roots, you have Good Seeds, you have constant interaction where the SEPC has put in a format where learning innovation is all in one place, it’s in a concise time period. As an industry we’re all benefitting from that. And so the bang for our buck is unbelievable. Honestly, we couldn’t be more pleased with just how the SEPC team has pulled this all together.”

Charlie Eagle of Southern Specialties started this way: “I’ve said it before. We always enjoy this show. We get to see folks that are our friends. We get to see a group of people that do good for the community. So over all, the feeling here is one of cameraderie and warmth.”

He added, “The most important thing for many of the customers or attendees or exhibitors is they get a return on the investment they have to make in finances and time. It isn’t until we get back to the office and have a chance to follow up that we truly get to appreciate that. Our goal is, if we can bring on a new customer, if we can re-engage an existing customer or a customer that we lost, then it’s been a successful show. So in summary, I’d say that we always love to attend this show. It’s great to see those in the industry that we share commonality with. And our hopes are that as a result of our meetings on the show floor, we can garner some degree of business. Right now it looks good.”

He concluded, “The scope of the SEPC shows has changed a little bit over the years, with the spring show, Southern Exposure, being the go-to show in the nation in my opinion for regional shows. With the introduction of the Southern Innovation show, it extended the opportunities for us.”

Derek Ennis of L&M Cos. said, “Today’s show has been very good. We’ve had just a good steady flow of really good retail and foodservice partners coming by to see what we have going on. We spent a lot of time talking about our upcoming crops. We got to see some new customers that we’ve been lookng to get in front of for a while. The show floor has seen really good activity today.”

Commenting on SI, he stated, “The really nice thing about this Southern Innovations show is it’s still an intimate, small show. You get a lot of good quality time with your partners.”

He continued, “I went to the educational session this morning; I thought Anne-Marie did a really good job. It seems like the audience was very engaged. There was a lot of retailers in the room that seemed to be getting a lot of really good insights to take back to their businesses. I think it was a very good session, a lot of good interaction during the breakouts.”

Talking about SEPC in particular, Ennis declared, “One of my passions in the industry, and really within SEPC, is the next generation. Between our STEP-UPP classes, the Next Generation Leadership Academy, really just the focus that the Southeast Produce Council has put on develping our next genration of leaders, I think they’re doing a really good job. It’s encouraging to see that the produce industry is in good hands in the future.”

Gordon Hochberg

Gordon Hochberg

About Gordon M. Hochberg  |  email

Gordon M. Hochberg was born in New York City, and grew up in Westchester County, NY. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in history from Lafayette College in 1973.

He started his career at The Produce News in the late 1970s, and has been with the publication ever since.

He served on the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Agricultural Society from 2012 to 2018. He currently serves on the Southeast Produce Council’s Board of Governors.

He enjoys music, theater and reading (American and ancient history are his favorites). And he’s been a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees since attending his first game in the late 1950s. He and his wife, Kathi, have been married since 1974.

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