On Thursday, December 1, the New York Produce Show was held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. It’s a popular time of year to go to the Big Apple, and traditionally, many spouses join their significant others in this event that has a dedicated spouse program. This year, the show took place in the same week as the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center, a nice way to get into the holiday spirit. “I love coming to this show,” said Luke Sears of LGS Specialty Sales. “I know a lot of people here from my time at Hunts Point Market. It’s great to have a home show.”
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Busy time of year
Although the show was lively and saw good traffic, the number of exhibitors seemed to be lower compared to previous years. Pre-pandemic, the exhibit hall used to be pretty much filled with booths, but this year, there were quite a bit of empty spots. Several exhibitor spaces weren’t filled. What could have been the reason for the lower attendance? “Last year, the New York Produce Show was one of the first events since the start of the pandemic, and everyone was so excited to see friends and colleagues again,” said Liam Slavin with Bard Valley Date Growers. “IFPA’s New Orleans event got canceled, and the New York Show was an opportunity to celebrate being out of Covid. This year, on the other hand, people had more trade show options to go to. As always, it was still a good event,” Slavin added.
Comments from James Rasmussen with LGS Specialty Sales were along the same lines. “Last year, the New York Produce Show was a very busy event. This year however, the show took place only a month after IFPA’s Orlando show, and people don’t like it when it’s back-to-back. However, the organization did a good job matching it up with the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center.”
Hazel Technologies is a first-time exhibitor of the event and saw all the retailers they were hoping to see. “We had a lot of people come by our booth and are looking forward to being back next year,” said Tommy Caruana.
Jim Prevor
The event was a tribute to Jim Prevor, founder of the New York Produce Show, who passed away just a few weeks ago. Jim was the face of the event. Traditionally, he would host the Breakfast Panel and cut the ribbon, signifying the official opening of the trade show floor. In honor of Jim, his wife Debbie and his brother Barry were present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.