PMA chairman sees healthier lifestyles, healthier world

It might be a crazy time to take the chairmanship of the Produce Marketing Association, BB #:153708 but incoming chairman Dwight Ferguson, President and CEO of the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation, has some ambitious but normal goals.

He said Oct. 15 during virtual Fresh Summit that he looks forward to helping execute PMA’s new strategic plan.

“Our vision remains the same, to bring together the global produce and floral communities to grow a healthier world, but we will use some new filters to get there, including:
• A stronger focus on building deeper global connections with produce and floral sectors worldwide.
• A lens of diversity and inclusion to ensure we do all that we can to welcome new talent and new thinking into our community.
• Exponentially expanding our reach to include everyone who enjoys the joy of fresh produce and floral.
• A continued drive to ensure we deliver ongoing differentiated value in the areas of produce safety, technology, sustainability, talent, and demand creation activities.”

Ferguson said his career has always had an international focus, and he looks forward to growing PMA membership worldwide.

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He said PMA has delivered the industry more content in the past seven months than ever before, and we should look for that to continue.

“Expect to see more acceleration in this area with the launch of an extensive new consumer research platform early next year that will address market intelligence gaps in produce and floral,” he said.

Ferguson said PMA will continue to promote fresh fruits and vegetables not only as part of a healthy diet but part of a healthy life.

“Now more than ever we must reinforce the importance of produce and floral as part of a healthy lifestyle – in body and spirit,” he said.

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