SANTA CRUZ, CA - What a time to be at a trade show! Fresh friends from all over the industry are gathering together in Orlando, Florida, come March 2–4 as Southern Exposure comes back onto our collective calendars—and Awe Sum Organics® (ASO) is creating a can’t-miss booth.
“Our team is excited to be heading back to Orlando again this year, as we aim to reemphasize ASO as an important participant in the organic and Fair Trade segment,” Brianna Posner, Marketing Specialist, tells me. “We look forward to building lasting relationships within the industry, visiting customers and growers, strengthening our brand, furthering the research of the produce industry, and discovering innovations and insights from seminars. We are also eager to showcase our portfolio of organic Peruvian table grapes, Southern Chilean blueberries, Argentinian pears, Chilean apples, and Italian kiwifruits.”
And what a portfolio that is! The company’s Fair Trade Certified produce offers retailers and consumers the surety of sustainable and environmentally friendly produce. Fair Trade certifications meet the company’s sustainable sourcing commitments, improve traceability and credibility with consumers, and build on the grower’s Fair-Trade supply.
Continuing to bolster its offerings, ASO will be bringing its organic red and green seedless grapes from its Southern Peruvian growers, which will be hitting its peak during the Southern Exposure conference. The company started this project in Peru 17 years ago, and the varieties have been in development since early 2007 when Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer David Posner dreamed of creating an organic table grape program for the U.S.
During the SEPC Conference, the grower will be in full swing of its blueberry program, showcasing its Liberty variety. ASO blueberries from Southern Chile are brought in on express ships with direct service and very short transit time to both coasts. Concurrently, ASO will be beginning its Argentinian Bartlett pears during SEPC, which are grown by PAI in the Rio Negro Valley of Argentina.
Crisp and juicy, the company’s apples will also be on display, which are organically grown by BayLeaf in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand; Greenvic in Chile; and PAI in Argentina. The grower’s fresh, seasonal, imported organic apples from the Southern Hemisphere are available as a “new crop” during the domestic off-peak season, offering a fresher alternative to storage apples, and will be just around the corner.
Year-round supplies of Italian kiwifruits from ASO include green kiwifruit for the summer months, sourced from Zespri and top Chilean organic kiwifruit growers, and Zespri’s SunGold® kiwifruit. ASO also sources its gold and red kiwifruits from its top Italian and Greek growers. Brianna notes the company will continue to increase its supply of organic gold kiwifruits and of its Zespri organic SunGold kiwifruit, as gold kiwifruit sales, popularity, and demand continue to invigorate and grow.
With so much to offer, Brianna says the team still has a couple of initiatives in-store to provide even more value for its partners.
“We have done extensive research throughout the supply chain, including our grower base to ensure that our supply aligns with our mission and values in the areas of organic and Fair Trade. We also continue to broaden our sustainability initiatives and are expanding our field innovation footprint,” she explains. “SEPC offers us a great and diverse meeting ground to engage and exchange valuable information with buyers/suppliers/distributors. ASO will continue to build out our organic and Fair Trade initiatives through 2023 and beyond.”
To further bolster its strengths, Awe Sum Organics is stepping up its game with a few new faces to its team. The company appointed a new General Manager in Gabe Avalos, Kevin Leap as the Vice President of Sales and Business Development, Senior Operations and System Manager will be Isaac Contreras, and Oscar Delgado will take on Grower Relations and Compliance Manager to further support its initiatives.
There is so much to explore over at Awe Sum Organic’s booth #211, so be sure to have that circled on your map!
