On April 25 and 26, the Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA) held its annual trade show at the Vancouver Convention Centre in downtown Vancouver. The event drew about 3,500 participants and 270 exhibitors to the largest and, most importantly, sunny city in British Columbia.
Trade show exhibitors were very positive about the first day of the show. “We’ve seen lots of customers and it has been busy,” said Darren Bonnell, Greenhouse Category Specialist with Oppy. “The timing of the show is excellent as the Canadian greenhouse season has just started and we are excited about the upcoming months.”
Click here for the photo report from the show.
“It’s the biggest CPMA show so far in Vancouver,” said Steve Young with BCfresh. “The turnout was great and the first day in particular was really busy,” he added. “The second day was less buy, but still good.” Young mentioned he was happy with the presence of the BC Pavilion that generated a lot of attention for local food.
Although the first day was very busy, the second day didn’t see nearly as much traffic. “Given its size, it could be reduced to one day,” some exhibitors said. “We saw all the retailers on the first day.”
On display were several new greenhouse-grown products, including cute cumber poppers with a dip, living lettuce and several different varieties of snacking tomatoes. The focus on convenience continues with new ready-to-eat salads, pasta kits and fresh pre-cut pineapple chunks and slices. Packaging is becoming increasingly innovative with stackable top seal options as well as peel and reseal. For organic products, companies increasingly use recyclable and compostable packaging materials. A photo report from the product innovations will be published later this week.