For years now the DMA team has returned from our industry tradeshows to share the things that blew us away, and United Fresh 2013 is no different! This year’s intimate show packed a powerful punch and left some significant impressions on our team. From the patriotic opening party to the philanthropic efforts our industry showcased throughout, United Fresh 2013 gets a big thumbs up. Read on as we share a few of our favorite things from our week in San Diego!
Favorite Industry Accomplishment – We were blown away to learn that our industry rallied behind the salad bar initiative to raise funds for 436 salad bars to be donated to California schools over the next year. We are proud of Dick Spezzano, Karen Caplan, Lisa McNeece, and Margaret D’Arrigo-Martin and the rest of the team that worked so hard to make this effort successful and grateful to the companies that contributed. The Salad Bar effort is a huge personal passion for members of the DMA team, and we’re really looking forward to being blown away by our industry’s accomplishments next year in the mid-west! Check out our full recapof the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools press conference to learn more, and check out this printable infographic to keep the momentum going! Together, we can work to increase the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables across the nation with salad bars.
Favorite Use of Real-Time on the Show floor – We loved Sunset’s live tomato taste test with results tracking on several TVs around the booth. We sampled five snack size tomatoes: the mini Kumato, One Sweet, Angel Sweet, Zima and brand new Yelo varieties. The results were quickly entered into an iPad app by Annika Mastronardi (who we have also deemed our Favorite Booth Worker). What a great way to engage booth visitors and encourage interaction by the booth workers, plus the snack size tomato varieties get a big “LIKE” from the DMA Team!
Favorite Philanthropic Effort – As the chaos of teardown began, you may have noticed the sea of people walking around in IFCO t-shirts, kindly asking if you’d like to donate your leftover products to Feeding America San Diego. IFCO partnered with this area food bank to gather all the donated product in their company’s RPC containers. We applaud IFCO for investing in this worthwhile effort and continuing to spread the message about the importance of reusing as we work to implement more earth-friendly practices both in our industry and in our communities.
Favorite Female Trifecta – 
Have we mentioned lately how remarkable the women in the fresh produce industry are? Seriously folks, our industry is blessed with some outstanding women with a true sense of camaraderie and passion for what they do, and that was apparent during this year’s convention. What we loved was the powerful trifecta of stand-out ladies that were honored or recognized throughout the week. First there was this year’s inspiring Woman in Produce honoree, Lisa McNeece of Grimmway Farms. Men and women alike wore orange (the color of carrots!) to the jam-packed reception in honor of Lisa. Her heartfelt speech reminded us of how meaningful the connections and support we receive from fellow industry members can be during good times and bad. Next there was the Women in Produce panel working to inspire the next generation in produce. Lead by Dan’l Mackey Almy, Tonya Antle of Tanimura & Antle, Margaret D’Arrigo-Martin of Taylor Farms, and Heather Shavey of Costco Wholesale, the panel provided key advice from industry mentors and leaders to the next generation of fresh produce leaders in attendance. Finally, we were very excited to learn that Nichole Towell of Duda Farm Fresh Foods was honored with the United Fresh Leadership Alumni of the Year award during a private dinner held on Wednesday evening. Nichole’s leadership in all facets of our industry is motivating and the award is a well-deserved completion of this trifecta!
If you’re a woman in produce looking to connect with other women in the industry, check out the Women in Produce LinkedIn group and stay plugged in all year-long, not just during tradeshow season.
Favorite, Favorite, Favorite New Healthy Snack – CB’s Nuts Organic Naked Pumpkin Seeds are like nothing we’ve ever had before. These seeds come from a special hull-less variety, which gave them a distinctive green color and smooth texture that’s different than the white outer shell we are used to seeing. While fresh fruit, veggies, yogurt and nuts are our regular go-to snacking choices, we have a new fan favorite that we could not wait to bring back to the office for our whole crew to try out. Check back soon for an Office Eats post featuring these little babies!
Favorite Chef Experience – Royal Flavor’s Bruschetta sample was to.die.for. Prepared by Chef Martin from San Diego’s Acqua Al 2 Ristornate, Royal Flavor hit a home run with this sample and delightful chef experience. Drizzled with the chef’s very own extra virgin olive oil, this warm tomato concoction had us craving more. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to enjoy dinner at the restaurant itself, but we will certainly keep it in mind for our next visit.
Favorite Consumer Convenience Item – We have to admit that as much as we love the sweet taste and unusual texture of pomegranates, we don’t get excited about a few of their less than convenient attributes: cutting and prepping them! So when we learned about Youngstown Distributors, Inc.’s Pomegranate Seed or “Arils” product, we were hooked! 
This convenience package contains the arils already removed from the skin and ready to enjoy in a generously sized package. While these aren’t the least expensive produce treat to enjoy, we were happy to learn that the pack contains the arils of 3 to 4 whole pomegranates, making it equal in price to its bulk counterpart. So it might be a splurge, but with the added convenience factor this product offers a value we can’t refuse.
Favorite Before and After – 
While new packaging often makes a debut on the show floor, it’s not often that you get to see the “before and after” packaging displayed side-by-side. Naturally Fresh took this approach and featured their new salad dressing labels and green lids at United Fresh alongside their current look. We enjoyed this experience because it was an opportunity to appreciate the improvement in visual impact on store shelf. With a more gourmet appearance, we think Naturally Fresh should find success in their packaging investment!
Favorite Use of Banner Stands – While the use of multiple banner stands with matching graphic design is not new to any tradeshow, there is certainly a way to maximize the impact of these super affordable and portable booth structures. Meras Engineering provided a great example for turning banner stands into one cohesive backdrop. We look forward to keeping our eye out for other companies with wise banner stand strategies, and you can also keep an eye out for fantastic banner stand strategy ideas in our upcoming post: The Anatomy of a Banner Stand.
Favorite Product Display – With so many options for showcasing product and really taking advantage of the natural beauty of FRESH, we love seeing artistic use that doesn’t involve produce heaping out of a bulk box. JemD Farms (now Red Sun Farms) took an artistic approach by laying out a sea of color to draw attendees in. We really appreciated the way they incorporated signage that did not compete with the beauty of the product but still provided very concise and direct information about each product and package. In this case, simple was beautiful and effective.
Favorite Aircraft Carrier – Well, to be honest, this may have been the ONLY aircraft carrier we’ll ever be on, but we couldn’t write this post without mentioning what an awesome experience we had aboard the U.S.S. Midway. We appreciate the patriotic atmosphere and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stand amongst so much rich history.
Favorite Convention City – Boy, you certainly can’t complain about coming to San Diego. The city impressed us in so many ways with its perfect weather, walkable streets, delicious cuisine and easy-to-navigate convention center. We really enjoyed being able to walk from the hotel to the show in minutes. Thank you to the convention organizers at United Fresh for choosing this location so wisely!
All in all there was a tremendous amount of marketing excellence around this year’s United Fresh convention. In order to thank you all for the creative inspiration we soaked in at the show, we’d like to offer you some marketing resources to show our appreciation!
So what were some of your favorite things at United Fresh 2013? Be sure to share your thoughts and anything we missed below. And if you aren’t already subscribed to The Core, you may want to hop aboard that boat! We’re featuring more thoughts and inspirations from the show in the weeks to come, so keep an eye out.
