OPS 2023 an organic success
July 14, 2023
The seventh annual Organic Produce Summit was held July 12-13 at the Monterey Conference Center in Monterey, CA. The much-anticipated two-day event is specifically designed to bring together organic fresh produce growers, shippers and processors with retailers and buying organizations from across North America. The trade show featured more than 170 exhibitors from across North America and was a flurry of activity throughout the day.
Hope Barbee and Cory Torczon of Double Date Packing.
Kate Smith and Elisha Cope of Braga Fresh Family Farms.
Amy Rose and Maya Capurro of D'Arrigo California.
Robert Cadena, Jarred Lane and Marc Serpa of Grapeco Farms.
Julio Silva and Caroline Clark of Taylor Farms/Earthbound Farm.
Vivian Martinez and Stephanie Cantero of The Nunes Co.
Tom Barnes, CEO of Category Partners, moderated a session on the Shifting Organic Assortment at Retail that featured Greg Veneziano, vice president of perishables at Bozzuto’s, and Scott Dray, global buyer at Walmart.
Marc Pins, Olivia DeMichaelis and Mark DeMichaelis of Olivia's.
Kevin Leap, Maria Figueroa Ordonez, Fausto Figueroa Ordonez, Jenna Galise, David Posner, Diego Bahamonde, Brianna Posner, Gabe Avalos, Morgan Bahri, Jared Bray, Jennifer Burgess, Laura Camberos and Paola Figueroa Ordonez of Awe Sum Organics.
Carson McDaniel with Allan and Michael Napolitano of McDaniel Fruit Co.
Katherine Worthington and Brandon Lau of Instacart.
Jill Moran, Lawrence Tuck, Andrea Smith and Ben Mossing of Monterey Mushrooms.
Ana Paco and Angela Qualls of The Salad Farm.
Chris Veillon, Tiffany Sabelli, Paul Murracas and Alaina Wilkins of Pure Flavor.
Alan Gordon, Rafael Navarro and Darrell Beyer of Bluebird Mountain Organics.
Scott Fraser, Brooke Becker, Diana McClean and Santiago Peña of Mission Produce.
Nicole Zapata and Joe Merenda of Misionero.
Jerry Moran, Marissa Ritter, Brian Vertrees and Dustin Hahn of Naturipe Farms.
Ivan Cordova, Maribel Davila and Nathan Jenkins of Bonduelle Fresh Americas.
Amanda Gerondale, Oscar Guzman and Veleyin Contreras of Progressive Produce.
Matt Bergholz and Matt Stocks of Melissa’s.
Thomas Leo and Megan Klotzback of Mother Earth Organic Mushrooms.
Bryan Barsness and Andrew White of GrubMarket.
Kris Kaczmarczyk and Mark Hartwell of Giorgio Fresh Co.
Andy Martin and Aimee Raphael-Martin of A&A Organic Farms.
Bob Mast, Rochelle Bohm, Danelle Huber and Rob Myers of CMI Orchards.
Dan Crowley, Kindle Cowger, Johnna Johnson and Christian Bengard or Well-Pict Berries.
Jon Kiley, Cecilia Flores-Paez, Lizzy Parks, Kyle Berkeley, Vinnie Lopes and Amy Paolini of Envy Apples.
Bryan Roberts, Charles Aller and John Anspach of Sunview Marketing International.
Nick Sutherland, Kris Willard and Robbie DeLeon of Columbia Basin Organics.
Pat Steider, Carlos Acuna, Aaron Winslow, Laray Brett and Bo Brett of Mountain View.
Aaron Sumption, Alexis Barrett and Baltazar Garcia of Local Bounti.
Chad Hansen and Lauren Buning of North Bay Produce.
Kevin Steiner, Noah Croft and Tim Colln of Sage Fruit.
Darrin Carpenter, Derin Benson and Kevin Stennes of Chelan Fresh.
Andres Ocampo and Melissa Hartmann de Barros of HLB Specialties.
Chris Ciruli of Ciruli Bros. and sons Sammy and Frankie Ciruli were at the OPS to debut the company’s new Rowdy Rabbit division, which distributes organic dry vegetables 52 weeks a year.
Kari Maggiorini, Becky Nix and Stephanie Hilton of Seven Seas/Tom Lange Co.
Theojary Crisantes, Frank Hernandez, Ricardo Crisantes, Tina Federico, Memo Castillo and Joanna Jaramillo of Wholesum..
Clarisa Batiz, Carlos Bon and Michael DuPuis of Divine Flavor.
Bringing their #bananabadass message to the OPS in Monterey were Jennie Coleman, Madison Hopper and Kim Chackal of Equifruit.
Manny Fajardo, Hermy Torres and Danny Baltazar of iDeal HarBest.
Sean Steller of Phillips Mushroom Farms.
Juan Carlos Barrionuevo, Matt Mandel, Irene Amezaga and JC Myers of SunFed.
Trey Serr and Tate Brooks of Wada Farms.
At the WestPak Avocado booth were Jeff Oberman of the California Avocado Commission, Jennifer Zendejas and Joe Nava of WestPak, and Carolyn Becker and Terry Spillane of the California Avocado Commission.
Mariano Sanchez (center) of UNFI stopped at the Coliman booth to visit with Audee Rios and Aracely Vandine of Coliman.
Representing Frank’s Distributing at the OPS in Monterey were Eddie Stoller, Ricardo Roiz and Luis Soto, and Isabel Pena and Marielle Lujan.
At the IPR Fresh booth promoting the company’s 20th anniversary were Manny Robinson, Enrique Obregon, Alvaro Obregon, Jose Luis Obregon and Gustavo Elias.
Mike Hulett, Lonnie Gillespie and Kim Crowther of Farm Fresh Direct of America.
Jon Steffy, Wesley Jones and James Camera of Four Seasons Produce.
Jose Rossignoli of Robinson Fresh with Cindy Schwing of Splendid by Porvenir.
Lamia Barrington of iTrade flanked by Christine Toy and Brano Popovac of Sunkist Growers.
Jason Berry and Amanda Sains of Joolies.
Andrea Gonzalez and Craig Moss of North Shore Living.
Mike Marboe, Krista Beckstead and Dan Davis of Starr Ranch Growers.
Bob Tillemans, Fatima Moussawi and Lauren McKinnon of Zespri.
Rob Jackson, Harold Paivarinta and Kyle Monahan of Red Sun Farms.
Molly Connors, Bob Meek and Kathleen Triou of Fresh Solutions Network.
Andy Foster, Nick Georgantas, Velvet Arrivas and Laykyn Branco of Calavo.
Luciano Fiszman and Jan McDaniels of Gourmet Trading Co.
Falon Brawley and Tiffany Cruikshank of Onions 52.
Rob Spinelli of Anthony Vineyards and Josh Padilla of The MarketPlace.
Michael Stewart, Juan Carrillo, and Moises Celaya of Altar Produce LLC.
Jay Zimmerman, Natasha Lichty, Holly Gonzales and Hollie Johnson of Offshoot Brands.
Paley Capachi, Skyler Mullings, Michael Forrest and David Anthony of Youngstown Grape Distributors Inc.
Jeff Taylor and Jeff Johnson of Prime Time International.
Tyann Schlimmer, Lindsey Lance, Andrea White and Michelle Youngquist of Bay Baby Produce.
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