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Show floor finds: Global Produce & Floral Show, Day 1

plastic-free produce container
A plethora of plastic-free or plastic-minimizing produce containers were on display in the Business Solutions section of the Global Fresh Produce & Floral Show in Orlando.

ORLANDO, FL — The International Fresh Produce Association is trying something different with a category of exhibitors I like to call “widgets and gizmos.”

At the Global Produce & Floral Show, organizers opened the Business Solutions section of the floor a day early for a 2-hour expo. Business Solutions are anything from trucking and transportation to software, trade media, fixtures, packaging, machinery, and of course, Blue Book Services (Check us out at Booth 734!).

Traffic seemed robust, which is a boon to this segment of the show floor, which often caters to the other side. Greg Johnson, director of media development, and I spent some time at the Blue Book booth and talked to a few exhibitors who were happy to have a chance to walk the floor without fear of missing a customer when their own booths are active.

As I perused the floor, I noticed a few packaging trends, including many booths highlighting minimized plastic, or plastic-free options for consumer packs.

Here are just a few:

@producewithpamela

Would you prefer produce packed in fiber based packaging instead of plastic? What about edible coatings like Apeel? Here’s a quick look from Day 1 of the Global Produce & Floral Show #freshproduce #packaging #grocery #gpfs2022

♬ original sound – Produce with Pamela

I also had a chance to check out Apeel Sciences’ new gizmo, which could help consumers pick the perfect avocado. Here’s a quick demo:

@producewithpamela

Ever had trouble figuring out when your avocado will be ready? Imagine if there was a device in the produce department that could tell you. This is new tech from Apeel Sciences — typically for commercial packing houses, but it could be used for consumers in-store #avocados #freshproduce #gpfs2022

♬ original sound – Produce with Pamela

Stay tuned for more from the Global Produce & Floral Show.

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Pamela Riemenschneider is the Retail Editor for Blue Book Services.