FreshJUNE / JULY 2016 DIGEST A P U B L I C A T I O N O F T H E F R E S H P R O D U C E & F L O R A L C O U N C I L 10 Features 8 Inaugural Summit Shines Spotlight on Exploding Category FOCUS ON ORGANICS 13 Southern California April Luncheon EVENT PHOTOS AND THANK YOUS 18 Dressings...Dips...Juices FOCUS ON COMPLIMENTARY ITEMS 22 DLJ Produce Adds Full Line of Organics and Value Added Packaging FOCUS ON EXPANSION 24 Top Chef to Keynote EXPO Breakfast FOCUS ON SOCAL EXPO 26 Tessamae’s: It’s all in the Family 24 FOCUS ON COMPLIMENTARY ITEMS 28 Northern California Expo EVENT PHOTOS AND THANK YOUS 38 4Earth Farms Adds Line of ‘Overseal’ Packaging FOCUS ON ORGANICS 40 Dan Sims Calling it a Career FOCUS ON RETIREMENT 42 Meet Your 2016 FPFC Apprentices PHOTOS AND BIOS Cover design by: User Friendly, Ink. Departments Volume 44, Number 3 JUNE / JULY 2016 FRESH DIGEST (ISSN-1522-0982) is published bimonthly for $15 of FPFC membership dues; $25 4 Editor’s View for annual subscription for non-members by Fresh By Tim Linden Produce & Floral Council; 2400 E. Katella Avenue, 6 Executive Notes Suite 330, Anaheim CA 92806. Periodicals postage By Carissa Mace paid at Anaheim, CA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 17 Council News FRESH DIGEST, 2400 E. Katella Avenue, Suite 330, FPFC Highlights 38 Anaheim CA 92806. JUNE / JULY 2016 3 Generation Z I went camp- other closeted lifestyles. ing this weekend Even two decades ago when I started camp- with several parents ing with my older kids and their friends, traditional and six 15 year old camping fare was still the order of the day: Hot girls marking the dogs and hamburgers, s’mores galore, potato chips end of their fresh- and onion dip were part of every outing. We dads man year in high would get a bit creative but mostly it involved meat school. In addition, and barbecue not the side dishes. My older kids there was a soon- grew up healthy despite those indulgences and to-be eighth grader Tim Linden today eat far more vegetables that I did at a similar in the group. No time of my life. name has yet stuck for this group. MTV calls But this new generation has started down that them The Founders. Others have dubbed healthy-eating path at least a decade sooner. I again these kids born in this century Generation Z. question statistics stating that the average per capita Time will tell what sticks consumption of fruits and vegetables is falling. I sim- From the produce point of view, this anec- ply do not believe the validity of the studies, which is dotal report would seem to indicate a bright future basically captured through polling and diaries. One VIEW for our industry. Soon after arriving, the youngest need look no further than the presidential race of girl whipped up a very good-tasting guacamole dip. 2016 to prove that polling is an inexact science at By Tim Linden Watching her work the knife around that avocado best. People simply don’t tell the truth about what they did or what they are going to do. seed, it was obvious that she was a veteran of that particular recipe. She proclaimed that she loved to Look at any grocery store. The space devoted cook and had many different dishes in her reper- to produce and the number of SKUs are both toire. Her dad bragged that she also makes a mean up significantly. And the produce department’s margarita with fresh limes. If you concentrate on percentage of sales is also higher than it once was. the use of fresh limes, as opposed to the 13-year This doesn’t even count all the other non-traditional old pouring tequila and triple sec, that also bodes venues that are registering at least some fruit and well. vegetable sales. When it came to dinner, two of the six fresh- The produce industryy is in its golden era and men girls presented as vegetarians. Another, my the future is even brighter. daughter, also claimed an affinity toward vegetarian- ism but admitted that occasionally teriyaki steak or bacon have a particular allure. Being Californian, we adults felt no need to scrutinize how the kids presented nor a desire to examine their birth cer- tificates. If they identified as vegetarian, that was good enough for us. FPFC OFFICE Of the other three girls, one was a strict carnivore but the other two also saw the value in 2400 E. Katella Avenue, Suite 330 Anaheim, CA 92806 a fruit and vegetable lifestyle. There were far more tGBY strawberries and mandarins eaten during the week- Website: www.fpfc.org end than s’mores, though those blobs of unfettered sweetness did make a cameo appearance, which Editorial Office appeared to be more from tradition than desire. Tim Linden I don’t pretend that a handful of teenagers on 925-258-0892 [email protected] a camping trip is great empirical evidence about the eating habits of post-millennial teens. On the other Advertising Office hand, I harken back to my own camping days as a Dana Davis teenager and also trips with my older mid-millennial 302-750-4662 kids. In my day, vegetarianism wasn’t even a word, EBOBEBWJT!FQJYOFU let alone a lifestyle. It was deeper in the closet than EDITOR'S 4 FRESH DIGEST Not Always an App for That First off, an up- produce and floral industry do have some appeal to date: I’m happy to the not-quite-nine-to-five-corporate-lifestyle-hating report that my trip to Millennial generation. the Northern Califor- We already have fairly casual work settings. nia Expo in April was We already have opportunities to spend significant uneventful with regard time out of the office. We already have collaborative to my rental car and environments. We already reward entrepreneurship driver’s license. There and innovation. The problem is, we need to sell that was no weird cabinet to young workers. We need to make young workers to eat my license, so Carissa Mace aware that you don’t have to work for a dot-com it stayed firmly in my to have a good work-life balance, to have work you hand in the rental car we got from Budget. It was care about, to have a job that doesn’t expect you a personal triumph. to wear a tie or high heels every day. Now that we have that out of the way, on to One way the FPFC is promoting the industry a completely different subject…. to potential new employees is through the FPFC If anyone else is sick of hearing about Millenni- Scholarship Program. By offering scholarships at als, raise your hand! See, I’m not the only one. No four California schools with recognized agriculture offense to any Millennials who happen to be reading programs, we are reaching young people before NOTES this article. I’m sure you are lovely people. they decide to go into another profession. We are By Carissa Mace In general, it seems as if every day there is there at the college level, showing them what the a new article on this particular generation – what fresh produce and floral industry has to offer bright, they want, how they work, how they shop, their innovative, motivated people. use of social media, etc. You name it, there is a The Produce Marketing Association is also story about it. making contact with young people who are still in The topic also comes up a great deal in college through the Center for Growing Talent by association work. How to attract them to your PMA. Their Career Pathways program provides association, what they want, how they work, how education, engagement and networking opportu- they shop, their use of social media, etc. Okay, you nities at industry events—including the Southern get the idea. Everyone is talking about them. California Fresh Produce & Floral Expo in July. The FPFC is no different. Frequently the The FPFC is in its third year of our Apprentice topic will come up in committee meetings when Program, which takes people with seven years or discussing a particular event. Just recently it came less experience in the business and pairs them with up at our board meeting. Discussion veered to how a mentor. They go through a series of programming Millennials connect virtually and how maybe they are for nine months that introduces them to various more comfortable doing that than doing the “old aspects of the industry; areas they might not be ex- fashioned” meet and greet networking events. posed to in their current jobs. One very important At one point, one of our board members thing they learn is the actual power of face-to-face finally said what a lot of people think but don’t say, networking. That building true relationships can’t be “Why do we have to kowtow to them? We still have done through an app on their phone. They learn a lot to offer and can teach them a thing or two.” that building those personal relationships can be a Indeed! Yes, they are this big ol’ generation key to a very long and prosperous career. of new workers and buyers and everyone wants We don’t necessarily need to change our to crack that nut to get their cash and their loyalty.