PASADENA, CA — The Fresh Produce & Floral Council held the Heist, Casino Night on Saturday Feb. 4 at the Langham Huntington Hotel, here.

Among the attendees were retailers from Albertsons, Grocery Outlet, Gaju Markets, Ralphs, Smart & Final and Stater Bros. Markets.

The Fresh Produce & Floral Council held its first luncheon of the new year Jan. 18 at the Castlewood Country Club in Pleasanton, CA. This luncheon featured Master of Ceremonies Daniel Bell of Grocery Outlet and 2023 FPFC Chairman Michael Schutt of Raley’s. Lori Taylor of The Produce Moms was the guest speaker and was joined by panelists Alex Jackson of Frieda’s, Marissa Ritter of Naturipe Farms, Myisha Nathaniel of Raley’s and Daniel Bell of Grocery Outlet.

DENVER — The National Potato Council’s annual Potato Expo was a rousing success, drawing more than 1,800 attendees to Denver for the two-day event Jan. 4-5. In addition to a sold-out show floor, where 176 exhibitors featured everything from packaging solutions to fertilizers and equipment, the expo included a heavy dose of fun, with culinary competitions that included industry members and high-profile Food Network personalities.

Now that the holiday season has started we wanted to spread some extra holiday cheer so enjoy these festive photos of your industry friends. Many thanks to all who participated, and we hope to see all your smiling faces at events in 2023. From all of us at The Produce News, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season.

On Friday, Dec. 2, Wholesum, the Fair Trade-certified grower and shipper of organic farm-fresh vegetables based in Amado, AZ, celebrated 10 years of Fair Trade certification at its first-ever festival highlighting the themes of community, art and impact at its farm in Sonora, Mexico. The event featured special guest Paul Rice, founder and CEO of Fair Trade USA, who inspired those in attendance with a motivational speech about the positive impact of Fair Trade among farmworker communities.

The Fresh Produce and Floral Council held its annual Charity Auction and Luncheon on Dec. 7, 2022 at the Sheraton Cerritos in Cerritos, CA. Bryan Presley of Albertsons was the master of ceremonies with additional auction hosts including Shonna Williams of Cardenas Market and Marvin Quebec of Quebec Distributing Co.

A silent auction began while attendees gathered for the luncheon and a post-event social hour occurred immediately following the luncheon where friends and colleagues joined each other for cocktails.