NOGALES, AZ - Facing an evolving and increasingly competitive market, the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas is helping industry members to succeed with its newly developed a series of seminars that will address emerging and ongoing industry issues.

“We are actively seeking ways to improve the well-being of our business members, we want to make sure to provide high-quality material according to the needs an interest expressed by them,” said Lance Jungmeyer, President of the FPAA. “We are certain that these seminars will positively affect the everyday operations as well as the industry as a whole.”

Taking place between the months of September and December, the seminars will cover topics that affect internal aspects of the business’ operation such as temperature control, building strong relationships with clients, and creating a risk assessment plan for packing, storage, distribution, processing and manufacturing.   

Attendees can also expect the seminars to cover outside conditions that could represent opportunities or potential threats for the Nogales fresh produce industry, according to a press release. Among these topics are “an inside view of what works and what does not when trying to enter the Canadian market” or “how the tomato supply and demand could be seriously affected by the saturation effect as a result of the proliferation of greenhouses prepared to serve local markets,” the FPAA says.

These seminars conducted by highly trained experts include:

• October 7: Temperature Matters - Keep Produce out of the Kill Zone and Save Money! by Post-Harvest Quality Expert, Dennis Kihlstadius
• The program is ideal for warehouse managers, shippers and those working on quality control.
• October 8: The Saturation Effect - Tomato Market by Roberta Cook of University of California-Davis, a re-eminent Economist in the produce industry
• October 12 to 13: HACCP Training and FSMA Preventative Control Update by Ingrid Peñuelas, an expert in food safety management and quality assurance in manufacturing, agriculture and in facility audits. 
• The course is ideal for Managers, Supervisors, HACCP team members and personnel new to HACCP or needing a refresher. This is a prerequisite for taking GFSI level training such as SQF, BRC, Primus GFS, and others.
• November 18: Getting Produce to Market, and Getting Paid in Canada - 2015-16 North American Transportation Preview and PACA-like Trust Update by CH Robinson with participation of Fred Webber of DRC (the Fruit & Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation) 
• November 12: Making Adjustments In Accordance with the Tomato Suspension Agreement by Kip Martin, Lawyer of Coogan & Martin
• He has been closely connected to the produce international trade for many years and along with his business partner Daniel J. Coogan is one of the few lawyers in the U.S. with knowledge of administrative regulations and procedures under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act of 1930.
• December 10: Cuba - Analyzing its Potential in the Winter Vegetable Deal By William Messina 
• William is an Agricultural Economist at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. He has been tracking the state of the produce industry in Cuba since the 1990s.
• December 16: Into the Great White North - The Road to Sales Success in the Canadian Market by Tom Byttynen 
• Byttynen, over the years, purchased thousands of loads of produce from Nogales. Hear the founder of Calgary, Alberta, distributor Thomas Fresh Inc. explain what works – and doesn’t work – in selling to the Canadian market.

To register for any of the seminars, you can contact the FPAA at (520) 287-2707, or email [email protected] for more details.

FPAA