Record number of Brazilians attend PMA’s Fresh Summit

A group of 96 Brazilian suppliers and retailers joined others from their country at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit International Convention and Exposition, October 18-20, 2013 in New Orleans, Lousiana, USA. They were part of more than 18,000 industry leaders from over 60 countries that came to learn and network.

The group was organized by key retail chain Grupo Pao de Acucar, the traceability company PariPassu, and Valeska Oliveira, PMA’s Brazilian representative who leads efforts to connect buyers and sellers, exchange industry information and address solutions to industry problems for the Produce Marketing Association in that country. Participants learned about key industry trends, effective ways to engage consumers, and how supermarkets are working to stay closer to consumers while involving suppliers in this goal. Additional ‘take aways’ included information about production, traceability, and food safety systems. Of course, high on everyone’s list was the contacts and business opportunities they gained.

As noted by one of the participants, the common purpose of the trip was to gain knowledge because knowledge brings innovation (a compelling theme of the event). Among the group there was a strong sense of community and the understanding of the need to collaborate on common goals such as increasing sales of high quality produce.

All are looking forward to next year’s PMA Fresh Summit in Anaheim, California October 17-19, 2014. Produce Marketing Association is a global trade association serving more than 2,800 member companies in 55 countries around the world, providing critical market information and connecting members throughout the global produce and floral industries.

For more information about PMA’s Fresh Summit, visit www.freshsummit.com. For more information about PMA, contact Valeska Oliveira (voliveira@pma.com).