Last week, the 9th annual Organic Produce Summit was held at the Monterey Conference Center, downtown Monterey, California. The event kicked off with Field Tours and an opening reception on Wednesday. Educational sessions and an afternoon trade show filled the program on Thursday. About 1,700 people attended the event, including 330 retail buyers and a little over 200 exhibiting companies.
With California being a significant growing state for many organic fruits and vegetables, the event was a home show for many exhibitors. Nevertheless, some exhibitors as well as retail attendees traveled across the North American continent to be part of this popular event. While the entire spectrum of organic fruits and vegetables was shown, organic stone fruit and berries were probably most prominent due to their proximity to Monterey and their seasons peaking this time of year.
© Marieke Hemmes | HortiDaily.com
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Most exhibitors were once again praising the event as it offers great opportunities to connect with buyers and industry friends during a short time frame. Many growers and shippers are in the midst of peak season and prefer not to be away from their offices and farms for too long. What was different this year, was the layout of the show floor. In addition to the regular two downstairs exhibition halls, a third upstairs hall also hosted close to 50 exhibitors. As a result of more exhibition space, attendees were spread out and there was more room to walk around compared to previous years. However, the feelings about the additional upstairs exhibition room were mixed. For some attendees, it took a while to find out there actually was an upstairs exhibition space and traffic didn't seem to reach the same levels it reached downstairs. The additional exhibition space also enabled exhibitors to opt for a large booth space, something that wasn't possible before. While most exhibitors kept the original 10*10 booth size, a small number of exhibitors opted for a 10*20 booth.
While the first hour of the trade show seemed relatively calm, traffic built up and the show floor filled up. Although the trade show officially continued until 6:00 pm, many exhibitors started packing up when the Happy Hour started at 5:00 pm, leaving their produce behind for local food banks.
© Marieke Hemmes | HortiDaily.com
Next year
It has been confirmed that the 10th annual OPS will once again take place in Monterey, California. It will be expanded into a three-day event, so mark your calendars for July 14 – 16, 2026.
