An increased number of educational programs, a night of industry luminaries and a groundbreaking webcast from the trade show floor sent United Fresh 2010 out with a bang today.

          With educational and development programs focused on each of the association’s four market segment boards, the annual convention and expo of the United Fresh Produce Association offered attendees more opportunities for business development.

          "We wanted to ensure that attendees to this year’s show were provided with education and development offerings that truly benefitted their particular businesses," said United Fresh Senior Vice President of Member Services Victoria Backer. "The customized, market segment-specific programming that we’ve had this week has pointed each attendee to multiple events and sessions that will help his or her business grow in both the short and long terms."
          From the Market Segment Super Sessions in the morning, to segmented Learning Centers on the show floor all day, United Fresh 2010 was seemingly never at a loss for programming.

          Ten winners in United’s Retail Produce Manager Awards Program took part in the produce industry’s first-ever live webcast from a trade show floor. Winning Retail Strategies: Secrets of the Retail Manager Award Winners featured a panel moderated by Perishables Group Executive Vice President Steve Lutz and broadcast live to the Web on United’s latest multimedia offering, UnitedFresh.TV.

          The webcast will be available at UnitedFresh.TV starting today, and on the site, visitors can also find video highlights of this year’s show. To date, the site has welcomed viewers from 12 countries.

          "This broadcast represents an unprecedented leap for United Fresh," said Ray Gilmer, the association’s vice president of communications. "No longer is the trade show confined to the conference room and expo hall, it’s beamed directly to the desktop. UnitedFresh.TV allows the association to extend the value of events like the annual convention far beyond show floor."

          The award theme was continued in the United Membership Booth with the presentation of the New Product Awards. Winners of this year’s awards are: Best New Packaging - Fresh Express Artisanal Salads, Chiquita Brands; Best New Food Safety Solution - VoiceCode, YottaMark; Best New Processing Equipment - FogTunnel Produce Treatment System, AgSolutions, Inc.; Best New Fruit Product – Chiquita Fresh & Ready Avocados, Chiquita Brands; Best New Packing/Processing Equipment – Ulta Bagger (Girbagger) Bagging Machine, Giro Pack; and Best New Vegetable Product – Ready Pac Bistro Seasonal Salads, Italiano & Waldorf, Ready Pac Foods, Inc.

          The final day of United Fresh 2010 concluded with the association’s annual Chairman’s Reception and Awards Banquet, which recognized honorees in United’s Retail Produce Manager Awards and Produce Excellence in Foodservice Awards programs, as well as other produce industry dignitaries. The annual banquet ushered in the tenure of new United Fresh Chairman Steffanie Smith of Hermiston, Ore.-based River Point Farms, and gave United Fresh the opportunity to announce that next year’s convention and expo will be held in New Orleans, La., May 2-5 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

          While today marks the final day of United Fresh 2010, members involved in the sustainability aspects of the industry will remain in Las Vegas for tomorrow’s United Fresh Global Conference on Produce Sustainability.

          For additional information on the Global Conference, please visit http://www.unitedfresh2010.org/uf2010/public/Content.aspx?ID=38.