It was smiles all around at the opening party of the Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure Expo. After a day of educational sessions, produce industry members from around the country happily gathered to share a drink and story or two in an evening filled with music, dancing and entertainment at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort in Orlando, FL, on April 7.

It’s no secret that the pandemic has fueled massive growth in the fresh produce category, led in large part to more at-home meal preparation among consumers. This in turn has helped the industry post record retail numbers close to $70 billion in sales over the past year. This was an increase of 11.4 percent, of which vegetables at 14.7 percent outpaced fruit at 8.6 percent.

Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. Inc. announced restructuring of the North America organization following the March 22 departure of former Senior Vice President Annunciata (Nucci) Cerioli.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture recently completed a state-mandated referendum vote that determined the California Avocado Commission is approved to continue in operation for the next five years. By law, a continuation vote among eligible commercial California avocado producers must be held every five years. This year’s voting results showed that 75 percent of voting producers support continuation of CAC for another five years, well above the legally required percentage.

United Natural Foods Inc. has launched Community Marketplace by UNFI, a business-to-business digital e-commerce solution for emerging brands looking to expand distribution with UNFI customers. Community Marketplace modernizes the way brands interact with grocery wholesalers by allowing thousands of emerging products not currently available at UNFI distribution centers to be ordered on UNFI’s Easy Options website and shipped directly to retail customers across the United States.

Alsum Farms & Produce Inc., a leading fresh market grower, packer and shipper of Wisconsin-grown potatoes, onions and provider of fresh, quality produce, announced the recent addition of Gary Stevens as director of sales and business development.