Seen and heard at SEPC Southern Exposure 2025 — Part 1

ORLANDO, Fla. — Speaking at one of the education sessions at the Southeast Produce Council's Southern Exposure event, chef Jeff Henderson shared his journey from federal prison to high-end restaurants. When asked what his favorite produce items to cook with were, Henderson said the “holy trinity,” which includes bell peppers, onions and celery.

“The go-to vegetable that I eat probably four times a month is cabbage,” he said. “I love caramelized cabbage, burnt up a little bit, just butter, nice, salt and pepper. I love butternut squash, but it's seasoned. I do a lot of butternut squash soups and things like that, but I blend butternut squash with sweetpotatoes. My family being from the South, we love the collard greens, mustard greens, big old lettuces, microgreens and all those great things.”

Henderson also shared how, during a filming of the show, “Family Style," he worked with a family to incorporate carrots, cauliflower into a spaghetti or pizza sauce to incorporate more vegetables.

“The kids didn't see the white or the orange [of the carrots or cauliflower], and they would tear that pizza up and spaghetti meatballs, and that's how we got them to eat a little bit healthier,” he said.

The team at the Bland Farms highlighted the upcoming Vidalia onion season, which will begin around mid-April. In fact, Sloan Lott, director of sales for Bland Farms, said that's what most of the conversations stemmed around for visitors to the company's booth.

“They're always excited about Vidalia season,” he said.

Lott said this year's crop will be smaller in size and volume, given some colder rainy weather in the growing season, but after last year's bumper crop, retailers can expect a more normal crop size.

“It'll be a good crop,” Lott said. “It'll be a more normal year.”

Lott said Bland Farms also has sweetpotatoes available now through late September.

Highline Mushrooms displayed its bright, colorful packaging designed to help increase mushroom consumption. The company's new rPET tills “allows the consumer to see everything they're buying,” said Kelly Hale, vice president of sales, marketing and distribution for Highline Mushrooms.

Hale said the new packaging really highlights the product and taps into the adage that the consumer buys with their eyes.

“We think they'll buy more,” Hale said.

Cosmic Crisp's continual rise was a big part of Stemilt Growers' display. There has been a continual growth for the variety, especially with a down year for Honeycrisp volume.

Tim Harrington, merchandising representative for Stemilt, said he expects to see Cosmic Crisp rise to No. 1 or No. 2 in SKUs this year; movement on organic Cosmic Crisp has also been great for the company.

"We have a large variety pack of 2-pound, 4-pound and 4-count EZ Band," he said.

The upcoming cherry season was a big part of Stemilt's display, with the grower-shipper-marketer showing off its Kyle's Pick, Closer to the Moon and 5 River Island cherries.

Cherry season will begin in California at the end of April, and Harrington said Stemilt expects to rebound this year with its Washington-grown cherries with good volume from May to early September.

Equifruit's Café Banana Badass theme was a hit with Southern Exposure attendees who were in desperate need of a caffeine boost. Equifruit served up custom lattes with a mission, highlighting that it costs a consumer only $5 more a year to switch to Equifruit Fairtrade bananas, which is less than one latte in the real world.

The Equifruit team said the booth, and its mission, proved to be extremely popular, with show attendees queuing for their cup of joe at Equifruit's coffeehouse.

“It hasn't stopped,” Madison Hopper, creative content manager for Equifruit, said of the visitors to the booth.

Kellee Harris, vice president of retail merchandising services at The Giumarra Cos., said this was her first SEPC Southern Exposure event, although Giumarra has exhibited and attended the show for many years.

“This is the best show for consistent traffic,” she said. “We saw who we targeted [to see] and then some.”

Harris said booth visitors asked the team about grape and avocado availability.

“A lot of people are asking about it,” she said, given the talk of tariffs. “Every day is different. We've got supply and no one knows where we're going long term.”