Village Farms International, headquartered in Eatontown, NJ, will be represented at Southern Exposure Retail & Foodservice Conference & Expo in Orlando, FL, this year by Douglas Kling, senior vice president and chief sales and marketing officer; Bret Wiley, vice president of sales operations; Steve Poklemba, regional sales manager and Alan Kleinman, eastern district sales manager.

Helen L. Aquino, marketing manager for the leading greenhouse vegetable growing operation said that Village Farms will be featuring its entire great tasting greenhouse grown tomato varieties, sweet bell peppers, and cucumbers.

Village Farms’ ‘Campari’ stuffed Greek tomato.“On display will be our signature ‘Sinfully Sweet Campari,’ ‘Delectable TOV,’ ‘Savory Roma,’ ‘Juicy Beefsteak,’ ‘Lip-Smackn’ Grapes,’ ‘Luscious Seedless Long English,’ ‘Scrumptious Minis’ and ‘Sweet Bells’ in all of our customers favorite pack sizes,” said Ms. Aquino. “In addition, we will be featuring our exclusive ‘Heavenly Villagio Marzano’ and ‘Exquisite Heirloom’ varieties from our ‘Olde World Flavor’ collection.”

Mr. Kling added, “We are looking forward to meeting up with our partners and customers at the show this year. This is one of our favorite regional shows and we are equally excited to be able to showcase our latest exclusive varieties to further expand the ‘Village Farms’ brand in the Southeast marketplace.”

Village Farms has over 70 greenhouse items in trial and development, most of which are on an exclusive basis with its global seed partners and geneticists. The trails include items such as eggplants, which are more unique to greenhouse environments.

The company’s greenhouses are located in Marfa, Fort Davis, and Monahans, in Texas, and in Delta, British Columbia.

At its Texas’ facilities, with the exception of a four-week period in Marfa, and Fort Davis, Village Farms’ greenhouses operate 365 days a year. The BC operation is active from late February through mid-December, determined by weather and light conditions.

Ms. Aquino said that the company uses integrated pest management to combat bugs.

“We do not use herbicides, we recycle water five times and we use less land to grow more food,” she said.

“These practices make our operations highly environmentally and economically efficient,” she continued. “Our variety development has always been focused on creating consistent quality vine ripened products with the highest level of food safety that are delivered fresh to our retail customers 365 days a year. What truly sets us apart within the niche market of high-tech hydroponic growers is our focus on flavor.”

Village Farms’ customers are located across Canada and the United States, and it is expanding its export markets. Its primary customer focus is on the fresh retail side, with inroads in upscale foodservice operators and restaurant clients.

Ms. Aquino added that the company has seen a fantastic response to its “Olde World Flavor” collection that was launched at the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit in October 2012.

“Our new packaging concepts, including our new trademarked variety names, were launched at the 2011 Fresh Summit, and these too continue to be well received,” she said. “We will have more exciting developments in 2013 that will link consumer desire for healthy snacking and easy meal planning options.”

Village Farms’ strategy is to continue to expand into new markets. With the locally grown trend strengthening, along with concerns on carbon footprints and food safety, Mr. Kling said, “We have been and continue to strengthen our position both in the industry and in new and expanded local markets. This is an exciting time at Village Farms.”