News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Media Contact: Amy Philpott, 202-303-3425
Washington, D.C. - United Fresh Produce Association Chairman of the Board Emanuel Lazopoulos has announced the association will form an International Advisory Council to assist in understanding member needs, identifying challenges and opportunities for members in the international arena, and delivering enhanced value to members in the global produce community.
The International Advisory Council will be chaired by United Fresh Board member David Barney, Business Development Manager, Bakkavor, United Kingdom. The Council will hold its first meeting concurrent with the Fruit Logistica and FreshConex trade show and Congress in Berlin, Germany, February 6-9. Invitations to participate in the Council have been extended to United Fresh members around the globe, and a final roster of participants will be announced at the meeting in Berlin.
“United Fresh Produce Association is committed to serving a growing international membership throughout the global fresh produce industry,” Lazopoulos said. “With the merger of the International Fresh-cut Produce Association and the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association last year, we brought together members in 27 countries that now constitute 10 percent of our membership from outside the United States. We believe this is an important constituency to serve, and are already increasing our outreach programs in key areas,” he said.
Building upon last year’s Fresh-Cut Europe Conference hosted by United Fresh in London, the association has partnered with Eurofruit Magazine in the development of the new FreshConex Congress focused on fresh-cut, convenience produce to be held concurrently with Fruit Logistica in Berlin next month. “Our membership depth and experience in the European fresh-cut sector made this partnership with Fruit Logistica a win-win for our members,” said United Fresh President Tom Stenzel. “A number of our Board members and volunteer leaders will be speaking and participating in this conference, and we offer a dedicated online registration page for our members to sign up.”
“With our new partnership at Fruit Logistica and FreshConex, United Fresh will also host our first trade show booth in the event, welcoming members of the global produce industry to learn more about our association’s leadership in global food safety issues, technological innovations throughout the produce supply chain, educational opportunities and business to business networking,” Stenzel said All members and guests in Berlin will be invited to a United Fresh Reception hosted by Chairman Emanuel Lazopoulos and volunteer leaders at the trade show booth on Friday evening, February 8.
In addition to European outreach activities, the association’s next Board of Directors meeting will be held January 24-26, 2008 in San Jose, Costa Rica, the first time the Board has met in this major production region. “As we considered locations for this meeting, we found a tremendous interest among Board members in combining their traditional business meeting with an opportunity to focus on fruit and vegetable production, sustainability and trade issues in a key sector of the industry,” Stenzel said.
“The production of bananas and other tropical fruits has been at the forefront of many food safety, environmental, labor and social issues that are now permeating all aspects of our industry, with significantly increased attention in the domestic U.S. market,” he said. “This is a good example of the value of international involvement as the Board can get a first hand view of how companies are managing these issues to meet global expectations for tropical fruit production, and considers their implications industrywide,” he said.
“As Chairman, I’m looking forward to working with the new International Advisory Council to assist the Board and staff in continuing to enhance our efforts to meet the needs of the growing international segment of our membership,” Lazopoulos said.
