As the produce in foodservice industry prepares to gather July 27-28 in Monterey, California, International Fresh Produce Association CEO Cathy Burns looks forward to a record-breaking crowd of 2,000-plus, an insightful education program and top products and services on display at the expo.
“This conference is where foodservice and produce meet, and anyone who is not attending will miss out on significant insights and innovations,” Burns said. “We are delighted that it is the go-to event for foodservice operators and distributors as well as the suppliers. We’re also pleased to have a strong contingent from the K-12 school system. These are the folks helping our kids enjoy and choose fresh produce as they form healthy eating habits for life. We celebrate the fact that the 2023 conference is a record year for operator attendance.
“I’m both humbled and delighted to see this response from our members and our industry,” Burns said. “Even more important than the attendance numbers, this indicates that foodservice is coming back in full force, fresh produce remains an essential component in all foodservice operations and IFPA’s Foodservice Conference is where it connects.”
In addition to unequaled attendance, the expo, Women’s Fresh Perspectives Reception and Buyer Sourcing Meetings have all sold out.
This event is where the who’s who of produce and foodservice intersect in a one-to-one buyer-seller ratio. “This is where we come to connect, learn and do business,” Burns said. “Anyone in foodservice needs to be here and I look forward to welcoming everyone to the conference.”
The conference features multiple networking events and an education program including speakers such as:
- Monterey Bay Live! Panel: Art Kilmer, COO for P.F. Chang’s, Nazim Khan, CEC, WCEC, WCMC, executive chef of nutrition and dining services at Bryan Health, Lincoln, Nebraska and Melissa Melshenker Ackerman, CEO of Planet Harvest
- Joe Pawlak, managing principal at Technomic, addressing how foodservice reacted to and is emerging from the past years of significant disruption
- Chefs panel discussing opportunities and challenges they see in today’s climate of inflation, supply and labor challenges and the rise of plant-based and plant-forward menus
- K-12 panel of school and produce leaders working to increase students’ comfort level, interest and consumption of fresh produce at school and beyond
- A session on how to begin a sustainability program
- A conversation on the foodservice industry's efforts to advance inclusive procurement and supplier diversity to meet consumers' increasingly values-based buying behaviors
For more information:
Ashley Sempowski
International Fresh Produce Association
[email protected]
https://www.freshproduce.com/ https://www.freshproduce.com/events/the-foodservice-conference/
