The International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) held its annual conference October 14-16, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. Here are some of the highlights of the keynote speech given by IFPA CEO Cathy Burns.

She called on the global fresh produce and floral community to meet a period of extraordinary disruption with deeper collaboration, stronger advocacy, and practical solutions that overcome challenges facing the industry. She noted that these challenges – be they food safety, trade, labour, sustainability, technology, or nutrition - rise or fall together.

“Resilience is not simply the ability to withstand pressure. It is the ability to keep growing through it—to keep learning, to keep showing up for one another and to keep choosing progress,” Burns said. “The future of fresh will not be shaped by one company, one country or one idea. It will be shaped by all of us.” Key themes included:

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• -  Rebuilding trust through food safety and traceability. Following a cyclospora outbreak that shook consumer confidence and drove significant retail, foodservice, and school foodservice losses, IFPA mobilized member resources, maintained contact with regulators, and challenged misinformation. The association is strengthening collaboration with public health agencies, advancing prevention-focused standards and pushing for implementation of traceability requirements. An IFPA and industry-developed warehouse management solution is estimated to save 8 million labour hours and $250 million annually in compliance costs.
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• -  Protecting year-round supply through trade, labour and smart policy. IFPA is helping members navigate tariffs, advocating for exemptions on key agricultural inputs and promoting access to a stable workforce. The association’s work spans U.S., European Union and multilateral trade policy, Farm Bill priorities, research, mechanization, nutrition, risk management and reforms that support agricultural employers.
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• -  Building resilience through sustainability and practical innovation. Through its advocacy efforts, IFPA regained access to U.S. federal investment for regenerative agriculture, helped create regenerative agriculture benchmarks through the Consumer Goods Forum and expanded engagement on plastics, climate and global policy. Its message is clear: increasing produce consumption is climate action.
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• -  Addressing packaging policy without compromising safety or access. IFPA is advocating for workable, consistent approaches to Extended Producer Responsibility regulations, recognizing packaging’s role in food safety, traceability, shelf-life extension and reducing food loss and waste. Through its Packaging Innovation Program, IFPA is also elevating solutions that help companies prepare for emerging requirements.
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• -  Putting AI to work for members. IFPA is applying artificial intelligence to real business challenges—not pursuing technology for its own sake. Initiatives include an early-warning pathogen monitoring tool, a digital twin to forecast the economics of changing packaging regulations, expanded food safety and consumer insights in the Global Intelligence Engine, and practical education on agentic AI.

Burns underscored that the association’s policy priorities are inseparable. A safe, stable supply supports trade and access; resilient production requires a reliable workforce, affordable inputs and responsible packaging; and innovation matters most when it helps people choose more fruits, vegetables and flowers.

“Fresh products move at the speed of trust,” Burns said. “When confidence is strong, borders open, markets function, buyers buy and consumers choose fresh. Safety, traceability, transparency and trade flow are all part of the same promise: getting fruits, vegetables and flowers to people safely, consistently and efficiently.”

That promise is being tested by persistent inflation and changing consumer behaviour. IFPA’s Consumer Tracker found that nearly one-quarter of U.S. consumers buy fewer—or skip—fresh fruits and vegetables when prices exceed what they are willing to pay. At the same time, the keynote identified opportunities to connect fresh produce with growing consumer interest in fibre, wellness, personalized nutrition and digital health tools.

Source: International Fresh Produce Association October 14, 2026 news release