WASHINGTON, DC – The United Fresh Foundation will host the first Fresh Produce Pavilion at the upcoming School Nutrition Association Annual Convention in Boston, July 14-16, establishing a destination area on the trade show floor focused exclusively on promoting fresh fruits and vegetables.
The new pavilion will include exhibits by many United Fresh member companies and an educational learning area for school foodservice directors. The Foundation’s learning area is co-sponsored by PRO*ACT, which is bringing a number of produce distribution experts to serve as consultants for schools to answer all their produce-related questions, share guidance and tips for writing produce RFPs, and talk about the wide variety of fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables that are ideal for school foodservice. The learning area will display salad bars for school meals and snacking options to comply with the new “Smart Snacks in Schools” standards that go into effect next school year.
“Our goal with this pavilion is help schools maximize their success in serving a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables,” said United Fresh CEO Tom Stenzel. “We’re committed to helping school foodservice directors understand the ins and outs of purchasing produce, as well as making sure they’re aware of the many fresh and fresh-cut produce items that that can appeal to the next generation of produce consumers,” he said.
“We appreciate PRO*ACT’s assistance in staffing the learning area, where school foodservice directors will be able to consult with experts outside of their own procurement process. This provides a low-pressure learning opportunity when buyers are not negotiating with their own vendors, but instead are learning from distributors who are not actually competing for their business,” Stenzel said.
The 1,600 sq. ft. Fresh Produce Pavilion will feature 12 booths from member companies, in addition to the education learning area. Current exhibitors include:
- Chiquita Brands
- Grimmway Farms
- HMC Farms
- Mushroom Council
- National Watermelon Promotion Board
- NatureSeal
- Pear Bureau Northwest
- PRO*ACT
- Ready Pac Foods
Only two booths remain available in the Pavilion, and are available on a first-come, first served basis. Interested companies should contact Andrew Marshall, (202) 303-3407, for more information or to reserve a booth.
Founded in 1904, the United Fresh Produce Association serves companies at the forefront of the global fresh and fresh-cut produce industry, including growers, shippers, fresh-cut processors, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, foodservice operators, industry suppliers and allied associations. From its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and Western Regional office in Salinas, Calif., United Fresh and its members work year-round to make a difference for the produce industry by driving policies that increase consumption of fresh produce, shaping critical legislative and regulatory action, providing scientific and technical leadership in food safety, quality assurance, nutrition and health, and developing educational programs and business opportunities to assist member companies in growing successful businesses. For more information, visit www.unitedfresh.org or call 202-303-3400.
PRO*ACT is North America's leading distributor of fresh food to the foodservice and retail industries, sourcing from premier national, regional and local farmers. PRO*ACT streamlines the produce supply chain, offering significant cost benefits and an easy, one-call solution to source the freshest produce from more than 70 third-party inspected, independently owned, local distribution centers across the United States and Canada. PRO*ACT provides category cost management through commodity contract pricing, in-house consultation services and integrated produce program distribution management. For more information, please visit PRO*ACT online.
Source: United Fresh Produce Association
