While the United Fresh Produce Association’s (UFPA) annual meeting and trade show attracts more than 5,000 attendees representing executives and growers in the industry, it has never targeted produce managers and retailers who are actually selling fresh produce to the public. This year, the association launched its new online media channel, UnitedFresh.tv, in an effort to reach this new audience. The first broadcast, tailored specifically for produce managers at retail stores, was broadcast live from the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center at the meeting in April.

One of the convention’s most popular sessions is a panel of top produce managers who have been selected as winners of the United Fresh Retail Produce Manager Awards Program. These 25 managers, nominated by their peers and selected by an industry committee, share their experiences and strategies with the executives and growers who are at the meeting, but UFPA staff wanted to also educate other produce managers about the best practices of their successful peers.

“We built the TV studio on the show floor to take this content to award winners’ produce manager peers,” says John Toner, UFPA’s vice president of convention and industry relations. “Our whole goal was to extend our reach and engage people who would get more value out of our content.”

More than 1,100 people logged in from 42 different countries to watch the first episode of UnitedFresh.tv live from the show floor. Not only did the broadcast offer fresh new ideas and takeaways for the produce managers watching from retail stores around the world, but it allowed for live questions from Internet viewers worldwide. After the convention ended, several retail grocery chains such as Kroger and Safeway have shown the episode in training sessions for their own staffs.

To make it happen, UFPA partnered with DAV Solutions in Las Vegas to build the studio and facilitate the production of the show. It also helped that Ray Gilmer, the association’s vice president of communications, used to work in production for a TV studio and had relevant experience.

In addition to the live session for produce managers, UnitedFresh.tv also featured daily news coverage of other educational programs and events from the convention. After the show, the association continues to use UnitedFresh.tv to post video reports, public policy updates and educational materials for its industry. Video reports are highlighted on the UFPA Web site and weekly newsletter, and posted online on the UFPA YouTube channel and Facebook page.

At this year’s convention, UFPA recruited one major sponsor to underwrite the $20,000 cost of setting up the studio and facilitating the live broadcast. Additional sponsors and exhibitors were able to purchase one-minute advertisements to appear on the live broadcast and other additional broadcasts throughout the show. UFPA sold six paid commercials and due to unforeseen expenses, broke even but did not turn a profit. However, Toner fully expects to make a profit on the TV shows eventually.