Over 60 representatives from the consumer media explored unique and exotic fresh produce items during a luncheon and presentation at The New York Produce Show and Conference, held December 3. Journalists from cooking magazines, food blogs, radio programs, news services and TV spent one-on-one time with specialty produce supplier Frieda’s and Israeli date supplier Devik International. The opportunity allowed them to explore several exotic items as well as understand more about dates.
Frieda’s Specialty Produce presented an introduction to such uncommon items as Dragonfruit, Goldenberry, Green Dragon Apples, Zululand Queen Baby Pineapples and Kiwano Melons. Karen Caplan, president and chief executive of Frieda’s discussed the company’s initiative to encourage consumers to eat “scary” fruits and vegetables.
“It’s our mission to change the way America eats fruits and vegetables, and encouraging consumers to try something new is one of the many ways to increase consumption,” said Caplan. “Our Eat One Fruit A Day That Scares You campaign resonated with the luncheon attendees. They had fun sampling and talking about ways to spread the word about Celebrating Fresh produce.”
Israeli date company Devik International intrigued attendees with numerous varieties of dates. David Daks spoke about the varietal differences, their applications and even explained how to judge a date by its appearance. Attendees enjoyed sampling the fresh and dried dates.
The lunch also welcomed special guest speaker John Mariani, a columnist for Esquire and Bloomberg News, as well as an author and journalist of 30 years standing. Mariani shared his opinions on evolving food trends and challenged attendees to view and write about produce in a new light.
After the lunch, media representatives interacted with over 400 produce companies at the exposition and viewed multiple Chef Demo’s during the day. The New York Produce Show is presented annually by The Eastern Produce Council and PRODUCE BUSINESS magazine. It is an exciting world-class, three-day event for the region including networking opportunities, a jam-packed, one-day trade show, retail “thought-leader” panels, educational programming and hands-on tours.
Source: PerishableNews.com
