The New England Produce Council Inc. has announced that Suzy Badaracco, president of Culinary Tides Inc., will speak about "a future without fear" at the NEPC Produce, Floral & Food Service Expo, scheduled to take place Sept. 29-30 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

In the coming weeks, the council will be announcing additional speakers to its annual event, which as always will feature a VIP reception and a keynote breakfast in addition to the trade show.

The title of Badaracco's presentation is "How to Use Strategic Thinking to Navigate Trends for 2021 & Beyond: A Future Without Fear

The Southeast Produce Council awarded 53 SEPC Member Scholarships ($53,000) in 2021 thanks to the dedication of its members.

Scholarships are awarded to applicants who meet the application criteria of having a parent or grandparent who is a corporate member in good standing with the SEPC and has personally attended at least one SEPC event within the last 12 months. Additionally, applicants must be enrolled as a full-time student with a minimum of 12 semester hours. Applicants are then able to submit the necessary paperwork, including an essay, to be reviewed by members of the SEPC Scholarship

Legend Produce, a leading grower and marketer of melons, hired Marc Beoshanz as the newest farming operations manager.

Beoshanz joins the company from HM Clause Seed Co., where he spent 14 years helping growers find and develop some of the finest melon seed varieties in the world. He was a regional manager there, but his background spans different areas of food production with over 30 years of experience.

“I have worked in production agriculture, agricultural research and product development. When I started my career in research, I fell in love with Melons and that is why I’m here today,”

United Natural Foods Inc. announced the promotion of Matt Whitney to chief strategy and innovation officer. In this new role, Whitney will be responsible for leading the company’s Professional Services and eCommerce business units while also developing new business models, pursuing innovation opportunities, and implementing several ongoing strategic initiatives to complement UNFI’s base wholesale business.

“UNFI is focused on innovation and finding new ways to support our customers beyond a traditional distribution model. Our Professional Services and e-commerce teams are two critical growth

The Produce Marketing Association hired Iván Correa to serve as the country representative in Chile.  Correa will serve as a resource and in-country support for PMA members and the industry providing relevant PMA resources and information and sharing Chilean insights and successes to the global audience. Correa’s primary role will focus on being an expert and point of contact for industry members in Chile, and facilitating critical business connections in the produce and floral industries.

“We are excited to welcome Iván as PMA’s new representative in Chile and part of our Global PMA team,”

The third Eastern Produce Council Leadership Class experienced key aspects of the produce logistics and distribution system with a tour of the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market and Holt Logistics on May 11. “In this first event of our current leadership program we were excited to engage this group of talented industry professionals with such crucial supply chain partners such as PWPM and Holt,” said Susan McAleavey Sarlund, EPC executive director.

The group started the day at PWPM with a presentation on the market’s history, evolution and current technology from John Vena of John Vena Inc