<p>Southern Specialties hosted the 2013 Southeast Produce Council’s STEPP – UPP leadership class on August 1. The event included an educational presentation and tour of the company’s Pompano Beach facility.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Southeast Produce Council chairs, Faye Westfall, Joe Watson, Tom Page, and Andrew Scott, were in attendance along with ten members from this year’s class.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“Each STEP-UPP class tours farms and facilities in the Southeast, said Charlie Eagle, Vice President of Business Development. “It is a great opportunity for future leaders in produce to gain first-hand exposure to the many facets of our industry. We are pleased to have been selected by the leaders of this group to give a presentation focused on South Florida as a gateway into the U.S. for fruits and vegetables from Central and South America. Our company has been growing in the America’s for more than 22 years, and we have gained expertise in growing, processing, warehousing and distributing safe, high quality, specialty produce from all regions.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The class was greeted by President and CEO Robert Colescott as well as the executive and sales teams for the company. Tim Meissner presented on the three billion pounds of Central and South American produce that are imported to the states through South Florida each year, touching on growing, importing, processing and quality assurance. The importance of imported produce in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in the U.S. was also highlighted.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">We commend Southern Specialties for taking an active role in educating the next generation of produce people.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://southernspecialties.com/ " target="_new">Southern Specialties </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
