<p>Worldwide marketer of fruits and vegetables Seald Sweet International and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have sponsored the 3rd annual "Fresh From Florida" farm tour in early March, 2014.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"We are so pleased and very fortunate to have this opportunity again," says Kim Flores, Director of Marketing at Seald Sweet. "The produce merchandising specialists are very knowledgeable of promoting product at the point of sale. This group of produce buyers and merchandisers are continuously in the retail marketplace daily, working with consumers. They educate us as well on how to better meet consumer’s needs and demands. This is an overall win-win event from several perspectives."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The tour is held in cooperation with growers in the area. This is an effort to educate fresh produce procurement and merchandising personnel of the Military Produce Group (MPG) regarding the diversity of crops grown on Florida farms.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, MPG procures and distributes produce to the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) military commissaries for all eastern US military bases. The commissaries are a core support element of US military families and a valued part of military benefit.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Procurement and produce specialists toured a diversity of crops and operations which include strawberries at Astin Strawberry Exchange, peaches at Florida Classic Growers, citrus at Seald Sweet’s packing house, Hunt Brothers Cooperative, potatoes at Mack Farms, and mushrooms at Monterrey Mushrooms.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"These farm tours are very beneficial to us. Meeting with our growers and evaluating the crops is so valuable," said Randy Brittain, Director of Procurement for Military Produce Group. "We always come away from these farm tours with opportunities to increase our sales and promotions. This tour is special in that we have our field merchandising specialists with us so they are able to see the sales opportunities first hand and can provide great support at store level. They will also leave with a better perspective and appreciation of what it takes to get these products to their stores."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Procurement and produce education is an important component of understanding the challenges that exist in the cold chain supply, both for growers and also produce managers. The important thing is that a safe and abundant supply of fresh, high quality produce is maintained.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"Fresh From Florida fruits and vegetables are second to none," said Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam. "We are proud to partner with the Military Produce Group and Florida-based producers to supply our armed forces with the best Florida has to offer."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.sealdsweet.com/" target="_new"> Seald Sweet </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
