Before You Hit the Show Floor: PR Moves to Make Before the Global Produce and Floral Show

The 2026 Global Produce and Floral Show runs October 14 to 16 in Orlando, Florida. Trade media will be there covering the industry, the same as they are every year, and getting your brand in front of them does not happen by accident once the show starts.

It takes a few weeks of groundwork beforehand. Here is what to do now to make sure your brand shows up well in the media, before, during and after the show.

Start media outreach now, not the week of

Editorial calendars for trade press like The Packer, Produce Business, AndNowUKnow, Produce News, and Blue Book’s The Produce Reporter fill up fast in the run-up to a show this size. If your brand has news to share, whether that is a new product, a packaging update, a partnership, or a leadership change, the outreach window is already well underway. And the sooner you can communicate with trade media, the better.

A simple rule of thumb: trend and thought leadership stories are best pitched four to six weeks out. However, hard news (launches, awards, personnel) are solid topics to be sharing two to three weeks out, so it still feels timely once the show starts. If you are hoping for any placement timed to coincide with the show itself, today is later than it feels.

Refresh the press kit before you print anything

A press kit that has not been touched since last year’s show is an easy thing to miss and a hard thing to fix once you are standing in Orlando. Before anything goes to print or gets uploaded to a press page, check that it includes:

• Current product and category information, especially anything that changed in the last twelve months
• Updated executive headshots and bios, particularly if there has been any leadership change
• A one-page company backgrounder that a reporter could use without needing a follow up call
• Recent coverage or press mentions, so press can see your brand has been active and relevant

If your brand has a sustainability story, a food safety certification, or a supply chain update worth sharing, this is the moment to make sure it is written down somewhere a reporter can find it in thirty seconds.

Prepare your leadership team for the questions they will actually get

Leaders do not need a script for the Global Show. They need three or four key messaging points they can return to no matter who asks. Before the show, walk your team through:

• The company’ current elevator pitch (despite company evolution, we can get stuck prioritizing old narratives) if we do not practice
• One clear answer to “what is new for your brand this year”
• One point of view on where the category is headed, since press at a show like this are often looking for a bigger industry narrative, not just a company update
• One honest answer to a hard question, whether that is about pricing, tariffs, or supply, so no one is caught flat footed on the floor

A few minutes of prep here goes further than any printed material.

While you are there

Once the show opens, the best PR moves are often the least glamorous ones. Confirm any scheduled press meetings a few days ahead, not the morning of. Keep a running list of who you actually spoke with, since a quick, personal follow-up email sent within a day or two of the show tends to land far better than one sent the following week. And if a reporter asks for something you cannot answer on the spot, it is always better to follow up with a real answer than to guess.

The Global Show only comes around once a year. A little bit of PR groundwork now means your brand walks onto that floor ready, instead of scrambling.

If you need help in the next couple of weeks getting your story out to the trade, contact us at [email protected] to schedule a call.

And if you thought to yourself while reading this, “We don’t have a formal messaging guide to pull our key messaging from”, we can help with that too. One of our top requested projects in 2026 has been Brand Messaging Guides. We can build one for you too, so that you’re ready to kick off 2027 with a consistent brand story across your company! Let’s talk!