If you participated in this year’s 3rd annual Viva Fresh Produce Expo, you probably couldn’t help but hear the overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees and exhibitors about the quality and overall experience at the event. A Texas-sized welcome was had by all, but mainly because the event offered up an intimate show packed with members from every aspect of the supply chain! From a well-attended conference to healthy in-booth business discussions, Viva Fresh 2017 was a huge success in our book.

While in attendance at the show, our team of fresh produce marketers from DMA Solutions stayed on the lookout for examples of marketing excellence to bring home and share with you.  Following is our summary of the trends, brands and products that caught our attention throughout the event:

Viva Fresh 2017: #WBUA

Trending Products

Tropical Fruits

As the “gateway to the Americas,” The Viva Fresh Expo was ripe with exciting flavors from south of the border. This year, tropical fruits had a strong presence, suggesting that demand and growth is on the horizon for this product category.

Premium Guava showcased clamshells filled with Guava fruit, a product most consumers aren’t traditionally familiar with beyond smoothies and juices. The company wowed us with their commitment to marketing and desire to produce recipes and high-quality content and photos to educate the consumer about this fruit and its many uses. We love that they understand that social media provides the perfect opportunity to get there!

Papayas were prevalent across the show floor from one end to the other, indicating that consumers are really starting to demand more of this brightly colored treat. We sampled fresh papaya from Super Starr International, who unveiled their new branding at the expo that was as vibrant and energetic as their fruit!

Juices

Health and wellness continue as top-of-mind for millennial and Gen Z consumers, and produce brands are tapping into this by providing juicing products and brands with the purest and healthiest ingredients on the planet.

Suja Juice came to Viva Fresh with their army of new “Drinking Vinegar” products on display. Apple Cider Vinegar is growing quickly into mainstream popularity, and this product line provides a wholesome and tasty way to drink what can otherwise be a harsh ingredient for inexperienced juicers.

We also enjoyed learning about Bolthouse Farms’ new juice brand, 1915 Organic, which was created to better serve the health-conscious consumer seeking clean and pure ingredients.

Powders

Beets have steadily increased in popularity over the past decade and more recently, so have pure food powders and extracts. Love Beets capitalized on these trends by revealing their new powder that’s made from 100% beets, has 0g added sugar, and is non-GMO, gluten-free, dairy free and vegan. Powdered produce looks to be a trend we’re sure to see more of!

Branding Excellence

Color Matters

ONE Banana teaches us that color matters when it comes to brand positioning. This fun banana company is relatively new to sharing their story and branded products direct with consumers, and we’re excited to see the brand take flight! We loved hearing about their decision making when it came to their color pairings; the company chose to create new purple and yellow labels and printed corrugate packaging to differentiate their organic bananas on the retail shelf after learning that consumers associate the color purple with organic offerings. The color combo offers the perfect complimentary palette and really shows off the branding efforts for this company.

“Fresh” Displays

Seeing brands that brought the “fresh” feel into their booths was something our team and other attendees of Viva Fresh loved. Fresh Point was one of the companies that did it right. Their booth was complete with green grass displays of their juices, as well as an abundance of fresh produce displayed in a unique manner, showing off which products are now in season!

Bella Verdi Farms, a hydroponic grower of specialty greens, herbs and living lettuce showed off their micro-greens with a beautiful display, which featured celery, carrot, onion, purple radish, amaranth and opal basil. The unique fresh display drew us into their booth and spurred us to learn more, and even grab a taste of their micro-greens.

Mirasoles Fresh Produce made us feel like we were right there in their farms and facilities. Their design stood out with hardwoods and grass flooring, televisions streaming video from the farm, and excellent graphics displaying their facilities. We left that booth feeling like we had taken a trip to their farms! 

Excelling in Engagement

Bringing Branding to Life

We love to see brands that take a packaging concept, or promotional element, and bring it to life in their trade show booth. Duda Farm Fresh Foods did just that at this year’s show to bring an All-American baseball feel to those who stopped by. The team dressed in Texas Rangers gear – perfect for a Texas show – and used gloves, hats, and baseballs along with their All-American baseball packaging to bring the look and feel of the brand to life.

Virtual Tours

Red Sun Farms gave an in-depth look into their vertical business model, which we found to be incredibly enlightening, and something that our Aggies for Fresh students enjoyed from an educational standpoint. The company’s presentation included beautiful drone footage of the greenhouse operations, while members of the brand team gave us a more personal explanation of all that goes into the company’s operations – from seed selection and nursery growing practices to distribution, sales and marketing. The Aggies for Fresh students and the audience were blown away by the attention to detail and care that goes into the food that is grown across the country.

New Product Tastings and Giveaways – The Classics

It’s hard to resist a unique giveaway or product tastings at tradeshows, and this year gave us plenty of both! Wholly Guacamole knows how easy it is to work up an appetite walking the show floor, which is why they were smart to sample their new layered guacamole dips in their booth. Once we stopped for a taste of their delicious guacamole, we wanted to stay and hear about their new products (and grab an avocado stress ball).

Not only did Marathon Mangos have an impressive, well-lit booth but they also attracted quite a crowd with their mango margaritas. We couldn’t resist trying one of these tasty concoctions as we walked the tradeshow floor, and neither could most other Viva Fresh attendees.

Kitchen Pride Mushroom Farms showcased varieties of mushrooms they grow, displaying them front and center in the booth. They also offered up Mushroom Beef Meatballs, showcasing a unique way to cook their products (and also satisfied our taste buds in the process).

Aggies for Fresh

Our team remains blown away at the difference that Aggies for Fresh is making in the lives of the students that it represents and the industry that it serves.  When you think about it, the premise of a campaign to inspire graduates to declare a career in fresh produce is pretty simple.  What makes it amazing is when the industry rallies around the cause with open arms and the students actually do commit.  This year was no exception…

Building on the success of hosting 6 students last year in 2016, we could not have been more grateful for the partnership with Texas International Produce Association to help us welcome 10 new Aggies to the 2017 show. This year, not only did the number of students increase, but so did the fresh produce hospitality. Exhibitors and show attendees were eager to meet with the students and knew most of them by name and area of focus thanks to the pre-show information and communication of the program. On Friday, the Aggies for Fresh Reception hosted approximately 75 people from the industry seeking to support and get to know the students better.  Reception sponsors truly went above and beyond with the food, drink and prime location for recruiting the Aggie students.  Each student had a different perspective on every event, but they could all agree that they want to pursue a purpose-driven career in fresh produce. What blew us away was how receptive the students were to learning more about the industry, how eager they are to get started and how welcoming the industry was.

A big Texas “thank you” is in order to Texas International Produce Association for once again co-sponsoring with DMA Solutions, by inviting the Aggies for Fresh scholarship recipient students from Texas A&M as they seek to begin a career in the fresh produce industry.  Based on feedback we received from the students, each felt as though their attendance was worthwhile and will most likely lead them to finding placement either as an intern or as a full time employee at a fresh produce company.  This opportunity for the students could not be possible without the support of Bret Erickson and Lilly Garcia, Texas International Produce Association and Tommy Wilkins, Grow Farms Texas.  We would also like to send a heartfelt “thank you” to Trent Bishop of Lone Star Citrus, as well as Tex-Mex Sales, Triple H, Wonderful Citrus and Texas Farm Credit for their generous support of the reception.

Want to learn more about Aggies for Fresh?  Here are a few helpful resources to check out:

• 2017 Aggies for Fresh Scholarship Recipient Biographies
• 2017 DMA Solutions Internship Guide
• Get Involved with Aggies for Fresh

In conclusion, we feel it important to note that as attendees and representatives of exhibiting brands at the show, we cannot emphasize enough how well we received TIPA’s focus and emphasis set around the key audiences in attendance: the sponsors, the exhibiting brands, members from the local region, the buyers, the attendee and the future professionals.  This “all about you” approach is what makes this show unique and of value to the people that support it.  Thank you, TIPA.  Ya’ll did a great job – AGAIN!  We will see you next year back in San Antonio.

Have something to add? Leave us a comment below or reach out to us on Twitter @TheCoreBlog!

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