Fresh Summit 2017 Delivers

Alan Tanouye, Floralife (a division of Smithers Oasis)

Last month the Produce Marketing Association’s Annual Fresh Summit show was held at the New Orleans Convention Center to a crowd of about 20,000.  Fresh Summit is the show for the produce industry. In addition to the trade show, there are also great education seminars the day before the show opens, and keynote breakfast speakers.  On Friday morning I had a chance to listen to the breakfast keynote speaker, Brian David Johnson, a Futurist (who knew there was such a job) from Arizona State University.  He was very entertaining, and I learned that it’s no longer enough to think about the next great innovation (think Uber), but we all need to start figuring out the next, next big innovation, so that we don’t end up being the ones who get disrupted. 

Each year there is a networking cocktail party specifically for the Floral Industry participants specifically where you can share a glass of wine with your colleagues and customers, and where they announce the next PMA Marketer of the Year.  This year, the award went to the very deserving Juan Carlos Hannaford of Elite Flowers.  Congratulations to him and his company. Nice job, Juan Carlos!

In many ways, the Fresh Summit show is similar to the WF&FSA Floral Distribution Conference. Both shows do a great job of bringing withtogether their respective supply chain partners to see new products, discuss business issues and projects, and to build better relationships.  Both events provide great educational sessions and networking opportunities.  And, both events are a great attendee expereince.  The WF&FSA Floral Distribution Conference focuses on the Wholesaler, whereas Fresh Summit focuses on the supermarket.  Nonetheless, it is a good idea to get out of our comfort zone and experience something different. If you have some time and the inclination, a visit to Fresh Summit may be well worth your time and investment.