Bryan Silbermann’s New Year’s Resolutions

Hi. This is Bryan Silbermann, wishing you a very happy, healthy, and productive New Year. Here at PMA, at my home, and my friends’ homes, everyone is working up their New Year’s Resolutions. And I just can’t resist joining in the fun.  After all, every 365 days we have another opportunity to shine, to grow, and to build on all the experiences of the year before. So, like everyone else, we’d like to set the bar just a little bit higher for 2011!

Looking back at 2010, we are proud of the ways that, PMA and our many industry partners have worked together to better connect with critical audiences and to reach the hearts and minds of consumers.

In 2010 we once again delivered year-round value to PMA members through business building information, education, and networking crowned by another highly successful Fresh Summit. 

But, as you know, PMA is so much more than just one week in October. We also helped you to build and strengthen connections, both with the consumers we serve and within our global supply chain. One way was by helping you shape and tell your story more compellingly by debunking key consumer myths about fresh produce. This has happened in a number of ways.

First, with PMA’s support of the Alliance for Food and Farming our industry and consumers now have access to science-based information information that allow us to bust Dirty Dozen-type myths with indisputable facts and restore consumer confidence in our foods – every bite, every time.

Second, we also showed consumers what a great value fresh produce can be. Our research proved that a bargain shopping mom can score her nine-a-day for under a dollar.

And third, with PMA’s pioneering support, the Center for Produce Safety held its first-ever research symposium in June.  To date, the Center has invested $6.8 million in 42 produce-specific food safety research projects to provide answers to critical food safety questions.

But consumers and industry aren’t the only stakeholders we’re supporting. We’ve been collaborating with government leaders too, conducting field tours and research meetings, and using new ways to inform public officials about our industry. We do that so they can better understand the intricacies of our industry and we can get the better informed government we need. 

We worked hard to bring our industry community together on a global scale. Last year we thought globally and acted locally. We brought you smaller, more intimate Fresh Connections events, in the U.S. and around the world. In response to your requests, we helped you and your colleagues network and engage with one another, while staying on top of critical industry issues and trends.

And we continued to expand our produce community around the world. In 2010 we celebrated the anniversary of our first affiliate PMA Australia-New Zealand with a record-breaking event in Melbourne . A new country council in Chile joined our country council in Mexico and we added in-country representatives in South Africa and Central America. These activities help meet the specific needs of members in those geographic areas, while also connecting them to their global counterparts – providing two-way value to PMA members worldwide.

Finally, we’ve even embraced the virtual world expanding our use of social media to better connect our community with PMA and with each other. Now, you can access PMA 24/7 through Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, blogs and YouTube.

But what about those New Year's Resolutions I promised? Well here they are. In 2011 I’d like to build mightily on these foundations: knowing each other better, working better together, and letting others know who we really are. In 2011 I resolve to take back our fresh produce-brand from those who would define us as something that we’re not. And in 2011 we will be providing you with the resources you need to help you better tell your story, because that’s what it’s going to take to give consumers better peace of mind to buy and enjoy more of our products.

We’d like to hear your resolutions and thoughts about the year ahead. Please send us a note on our Facebook page and let us know what you think. Bye for now, and on behalf of your Board of Directors and the entire staff here at PMA, best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011.