SEPC’s Southern Exposure rises to the occasion
March 6, 2023
ORLANDO, FL — The Southeast Produce Council held its 2023 Southern Exposure conference and trade show March 2-4, here. The event was successful on all fronts. Retailers, attendees and exhibitors were in full force at educational and social events as well as on the show floor, where the hustle and bustle lasted from the ribbon-cutting until the closing bell.
David Sherrod of SEPC with Robert Thompson and Mike Casazza of Freshsource.
Ronnie Cohen, Christine McCullough and Angela Aronica of William H. Kopke/Vision Global Group.
Tristan Simpson of Tristan Michele Marketing, Meg Buchsbaum of the National Mango Board and Maggie Hall of La Bonanza.
Melissa Hartmann de Barros and Andres Ocampo of HLB Specialties.
Kyle Palmer of US Foods and Andrew Scott of Nickey Gregory.
Anthony Leobruno of JMB, Rudy Liau Kang of Crystal Valley Foods and Katiana Valdez of Crystal Valley Foods.
Catherine Gipe-Stewart, Sarah Lucas and Mike Preacher of Superfresh Growers.
Chad James of WP Rawl.
Becky Wilson, Stephanie Hilton and Grace Wilson of Tom Lange, and Mark Hilton, retired from Harris Teeter.
Atanasio Panousopoulos of Delta Fresh, Steve Spence of Earthblend and Enrique Obregon of IPR Fresh.
Tony D’Amico, Sam Snyder, John Cunningham and Kevin Delaney of To-Jo Mushrooms.
Carrie La Londe of Valley Fruit & Produce flanked by Luis Yepiz and Benjamin Collier of The Farmlink Project.
Shawn Hartley and Tiffany Cruickshank of Onions 52.
Allie Perrault and Soo Choi of Rainier Fruit.
Hermy Torres, Manny Fajardo and Danny Baltazar of iDeal HarBest.
Randy Shell and Pat Shell with Julia and Rick Estess of RPE.
Matt Harrison of Lowes Foods and Anthony DiFranco of KJ’s Market.
Erin Waters and Mason Goolsby of Shuman Farms with Matthew Thorp and Michael Thomson of Lidl US.
Kindle Cowger and Johnna Johnson of Well•Pict Berries.
Jeff Cady and Andrew Richards of Tops Markets.
Alicia Bly and Drew Ganske of Johansson Transportation Service.
Robert Meade and Laura Tabone of Sunripe Certified Brands.
Billy Martin and Andy Kimbrel of Crunch Pak.
Andrea Wiggins, Trish James, Amanda Keefer and Lesley Daniels of the Healthy Family Project.
Matt DiNitto, Josh Curland, Abby Prior and Bill Bertrand of Bright Farms.
Christine Fries and Joe Atchison of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.
Blair Greenhill, Johnathan Gregory, Kimberly Gregory, Nickey Gregory and Andrew Scott of Nickey Gregory Co.
Lyra Vance and Michael Minerva of Village Farms.
Ian Zimmerman, John Venables, Paul Auerbach and Josh Auerbach of Maurice A. Auerbach Inc.
Hana Mohsin and Pete Hernandez of Misionero.
Charlie Marusich and Anders Schraer of Sun Pacific.
Rob Campbell, Kristina Lorusso and Gary Calorosa of Giumarra Cos.
Naomi Kausen and Ron Steele of AC Foods Retreat.
Lucretia Parish of Giorgio.
Fernando Aguiar, Angela Tallant, Glenn Daniels and Craig Merrill of Naturipe.
Bob Licker of Church Bros.
Domenic Russo and Andy Economou of TastyFrutti.
Sharese Roper and Katie Calligaro of Produce for Better Health.
Brian Coates, Shelby Babcock and Scott Swindeman of Applewood Fresh Growers.
Tony Cappelli, Brian DiCarlo, David Pereira and Dino DiLaudo of Westmoreland-Topline Farms.
Bill Schmidt (second from right) of Southeastern Grocers with Carlos Cuervo, Kristyn Lawson, Arturo Mendoza and Juan Molano of Luv by Fresh Direction.
Chris Holden, John Cameron and Steve Bindas of NatureSweet.
Ryan Johnson of BJ’s Wholesale Club with Sloan Lott, Delbert Bland and Jeff Rhoden of Bland Farms.
Jocelyn Mastronardi, Stephanie Myles and Dale Milison of Nature Fresh Farms.
John Cushing and Michael Harwood of Yes! Apples.
Geoff Taft, Morgan Pearce, Shawn Edmonson and Mike Owens of Pioneer Growers.
Bob Wilkinson of Arctic Apples.
Bonnie Lundblad of Sunny Valley International.
Nick Sapp, Britt Richardson and Sean McFadden of Parker Farms with Jordan Brandon of Old Dominion Organic Farms.
Mattie Leid of Hess Bros. Fruit Co.
Kevin Hall, MaryAnne George and James Towell of Florida Specialties.
JD Poole and Bryan Biederman of Scotlynn Sweetpac Growers.
Robert Cabili, Alejandro Guerrero, Terry Cook, Albert Perez, Bruce Letchworth and Alex Callegari of Continental Fresh.
Cailin Kowalewski of the New York Apple Association.
Ken White, Rich Feighery, Lee Timmerman, Joseph Procacci III and Joseph M. Procacci of Procacci Bros.-Santa Sweets.
Michael Hacker, Mark Sharp and Isaac Olivas of Fowler Farms.
John Strickland and Ronny Collins of Vidalia Sweets Produce-Collins Family Farms.
David Faussel, Anna Kirsch and Nick Garcia of Westfalia Fruit.
Kevin Houx, Cheryl Hoefs, Roxie Castellanoz and Justin Dougherty of Mission Produce.
Justin Horne, Matt Murphy, Bobby Creel and Cal Parker of L&M.
Jesse Lopez, Hilda Medina and Jeff Hutterer of Ocean Mist.
Ryan Baird and Tom O’Brien of Bobalu.
Mike Stephan, Mike Muehlbauer, Larissa Rice, Gini Richards and Andrea Jordan of Monterey Mushrooms.
Jessica Peri of Peri & Sons Farms.
David Bradley, Robin Narron, Randi Ricks and Thomas Joyner of Nash Produce.
Ashley Pendergrass, Zeke Ferrell, Charlotte Vick and Ken Sikes of Vick Family Farms.
Kevin Leap of Awe Sum Organics.
Brandon Parker of Shuman Farms, Chris Dove of Food Lion and Harold Paivarinta of Red Sun Farms.
Kari Wilhem, Rick Keziah and Houston Wallace of Food Lion.
Tom Murray and Scott Maher of Roche Bros.
Katie Rees of the South Carolina Department of Agriculture and Lauren Marcinkoski of Luray Peanut Co.
Amy Davis, Kristin Wells and David Brady of Food Lion.
Eric Frasse and Jim Provost of I Love Produce.
'Beam me up Scotty,' said Mark Daniels, Ross Johnson and Alan Kahn of IPC.
Alejandro Moralejo, Vince Biasibetti and Juana Elortondo of Salix Fruits.
At the National Mango Board booth were Dennis Kihlstadius, Tim Beerup, Manuel Michel, Meg Buchsbaum and Tammy Wiard.
Representing the National Watermelon Promotion Board were Katie Manetti, Juliemar Rosado and Sheila Carden.
Nancy Johnson and Samantha Hough of Wonderful Citrus.
Moe Adams and Pat Young of IFCO.
Derrick Bender, Justin Parnagian, Kiah Ruvalcaba, Maile Devers and Chad Nelsen of Fowler Packing Co.
Ben Hilliard, Cliff Riner, Steve Shuman and Blake Dasher of G&R Farms.
At the Wilcox Fresh booth were Tavann Young, Nicole Rumsey and Derek Peterson.
Mitchell Brinks and Tom Curtis of Riveridge Produce Marketing Inc.
Justin Bloss of Rivermaid Trading with Dennis Jackson, Bob Catinella and Scott Martinez of Pear Bureau Northwest.
Catherine Gipe-Stewart, Conner O’Malley and Sarah Lucas of Superfresh Growers.
Tim Harrington, Brianna Shales and Jocelyn Gerrard of Stemilt Growers.
Chelsea Page of the Vidalia Onion Committee.
Ben Fueston, Karolina Sokolska, Sue Elton and Pierre Boucha of Hampton Farms.
At the Coosemans booth were Paola Vargas and Alex Unger.
Coleman Oswald and Evan Giuliani promoted the Eagle Eye Produce line of products.
Juan Carlos Martirena and Fernando Aguirre of Grande Produce.
Mark Angel, Ray Connelly and Kevin Brooks of Procurant.
JC Myers and Luis Gonzales of SunFed.
Brian Arena, Ginny Williams, Traci Sensenig and Wayne Hendrickson of Four Seasons Produce.
Randy Riley of Golden Sun Insights with Emily Autrey, Justin Bos and Sara Palimsano of FirstFruits Marketing.
Randy Tuthill and Pete Ourada of Honeybear Brands.
Sarah Quackenbush, Brian Klumpp and Chad Hansen of North Bay Produce Inc.
Ryan Debuskey, Shawn Caldwell and Mitch Wetzel of Sunview Marketing.
John Cannon, Shawn Loudon, Dan Davis, Mike Marboe and Krista Beckstead of Starr Ranch Growers.
Mike Asdoorian, Bill Combs and Blake Lee of DLJ Produce.
Carlos Acuna, Rob Brett, Ryan Easter and George Matoian of Mountain View Sales.
Steven Espinosa, Albert Grimaldi, Ali Dandrea, Amber Milligan and Matt Benito of Fru-Veg with Jason Rudd of NuBerry Farms.
Michael Hively, Tonya McCormick, Sky Herndon-Jones, Bo Herndon and John Williams of LG Herndon Jr. Farms Inc.
Triston Perry and Joey Hocutt of Triple J Produce with Will Kornegay of Ripe Revival.
Tony Pinto, Enrique Vignolo, Joe P. D’Ottavio, David Guzi, David Arias and Stefanie Gutierrez of Harvest Sensation.
Luis Gudino, Giovanni Sanchez, Sandra Longoria and Brenda Covarrubia of SiCar Farms.
Jose Cambon, Sabrina Pokomandy and Prakash Ganesan of Highline Mushrooms.
Chris Gach, Kirby Johnson, Kevin Campbell and Seth Grant of Flavor 1st Growers.
Jim Schneider (seated) with Jason Bushong, Rob Campbell, Kristina Lorusso, Gary Caloroso, Mike Walsh and Deborah Schneider.
Brady Mouzin, Staci Clark, Beth Cooper and Dennis Mouzin of Mouzin Bros.
Glen Reynolds, Ivonne Alanis, Nancy Byner, Dave Allen and Dick Thomas of Potandon Produce.
Randy Scott (second from left) of Sprouts Markets stopped at the Freshouse booth to visit with Roger Christiansen, Jamey Friedman, Jonathan Trock and Sean Golden.
Mike Fuher, Jennifer Melvin, Casey Jarrard, Milt Fuehrer and Ron Butcher of BelleHarvest.
Alexandra Cody and Nancy Saines of Castlerock Vineyards.
Ben Hamon, John Harley and Rudy Heras of Anthony Vineyards.
Caroline Ogilvie of Greenswell Growers.
Leona Neill, Harold Paivarinta, Rob Jackson, Ray Mason and Tom Coufal of Red Sun Farms.
Levon Ganajian, Angela Hernandez, Jackie Nakashian and Gunner White of Trinity Fruit Co.
Mayra Arvizu and Matthew Burman of Mack Farms.
Wilson Dominguez, Desiree Pardo Morales, Willy Pardo, Monica Alameda and Chris Gonzalez of Dresbry by WP Produce.
Palmer Linsott of the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.
Laura Tambone, Jamie Phillips, Robert Meade, Jon Esformes, Lyle Bagley and Suzanne Dannunzio of Sunripe Certified Brands.
The Pure Flavor team at Southern Exposure.
From MamaMia Produce are Angelo Apollon, Mike Gianatti, Shimon Efergan and Sam Roberts.
Tony Barreira of Fresh Taste Produce USA with Vic Savanello of SpartanNash.
From Sbrocco International are Matt Musgrave, Maclaren Oglesby, Michele Petrie, Harold Sbrocco, John Sbrocco and Mark Danza.
From State Garden/Olivia's Organics are Kevin Keough, Kevin DeMichaelis, Mark Pins, Craig Richardson, Lexi McCarthy and Ken Reagan.
Gina Wasilefsky, Scott Thibodeau, Jeff Vocatura and Adam Hession, all of Big Y Foods, with Bob McGowan of Affinity Sales.
From Krichmar Produce are Troy Krichmar, Jay Krichmar and Matthew Rieti.
Danelle Huber, Loren Foss, Bob Mast, Rochelle Bohm and Joel Hewitt of CMI Orchards.
Kindle Cowger, Jim Grabowski and Johnna Johnson with Well-Pict Berries.
Liam Slavin and Nancy Roser of Bard Valley Natural Delights.
Karen Brux of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association with Ignacio Morales, Juan Carlos Alvarado and Tim Percival of Sun Fresh International.
Zoltan Pinter and Stefanie Gutierrez of Harvest Sensation.
Chuck Sinks Jr. and Tim Colln of Sage Fruit Co.
Brenda Zamora and Bill Purewal of Purefresh Sales with Alexandra Cody of Castlerock Vineyards and Jared Lane of GrapeCo.
Brian Miller and Victoria Kovacevich of Prime Time International.
Dan Fechte or Schnuck Markets with Nick Georgantas, Andy Foster and Juan Magdaleno of Calavo Growers.
Tyler Johnson, Ron Conrad, Soo Choi, Allie Perrault, Skyler McFeeley and Blake Bellknap or Rainier Fruit Co.
At the William H. Kopke booth were Ronnie Cohen, Jodi Donnelly, Damon Francis, William Kopke Jr., Christine McCullough, Tyler Wolowicz and Angela Aronica.
Representing Avocados from Mexico were Alejandro Duran, Alfonse Delgado, Ryan Fukuda, Stephanie Bazan, Tanya Edwards and Oscar Garcia.
Mary Coppola Heslep of Ten Acre Marketing with James Monnin of Garza & Sons.
Farzan Dehmoubed of Lotus Sustainables promoted his company’s line of reusable produce bags.
Representing MegaMex and promoting the company’s line of Wholly Guacamole and Herdez products were Deb Campbell, Amber Bill and Kirk Turner.
Yo Quiero featured a variety of products that constitute the ‘Ultimate Dip Destination,’ with Crystal Berry, Jay Alley, Tara Murray, Rudy Belmares and Clyde Forbes greeting visitors to the booth.
Randle Wright and Matt Glowczewski of Farm Fresh Direct.
Tara Smith Vighetti, Kamden Bates and Sandy Brann of Smith’s Farm.
At the Leger & Son booth were Jordan Carter, Bailey Leger and Will Hinson.
At the Wada Farms booth were Fran Torigian, Norman Brown and Kevin Stanger of Wada Farms, and Michelle Huff of Bare Beans.
Brenda Briggs and Alma Tacuba of Rice Fruit Co.
At the Makoto Dressings booth were Wayne Brown, Tiffany Lavely, Yo Tonyai and Ross Whitley.
Sean Steller of Phillips Mushroom Farms.
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