MINNEAPOLIS — The 2014 Dine & Design Holiday Show was held at Kennicott Bros. Co., here, Oct. 8 and Maureen Mc-Kiernan, branch manager, told The Produce News that over 150 people attended, representing 64 floral shops. Vendors included Smithers Oasis, Syndicate Sales and AMC.

“It was great to get so many of our customers to come in,” said McKiernan. “Many had never been to our new facility and they seemed excited to be here.”

As a first-time visitor, I was extremely impressed by the sheer size and bustling energy of the Produce Marketing Association’s 65th Fresh Summit Expo. The three-day event, Oct. 17-19, drew more than 22,400 people from over 60 countries to the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California and featured 1,090 exhibitors in more than 265,000 square feet of show space — record-breaking numbers for the PMA.

A group of Florida perishable importers have launched a Globally Grown initiative in order to promote international agricultural products that are brought to market, according to a news release. Globally Grown is an emerging campaign that aims to connect floral and produce growers, importers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers with one another in an effort to work together and promote the products for which they are known.

Well, here it comes, the busy holiday season is upon us — are you ready? Hopefully, you have many things for which to be thankful, not only on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of the year.

On the day that the Produce Marketing Association’s 2014 Fresh Summit opened, Bryan Silbermann, PMA chief executive officer, promised it would be the most well-attended event in the history of the organization. His educated guess proved accurate, as the association announced that a new record of more than 22,400 people attended the three-day event.

The New York Apple Growers LLC will be launching a new apple called SnapDragon in all Wegmans stores starting in November.

Known for its crispy texture combined with a sweet and juicy flavor, SnapDragon has a distinctly bright red dappled color.