Oppy opens its doors to CPMA
A vibrant show floor hosted over 300 exhibiting companies and welcomed more than 4,000 attendees for two days of networking, learning and fostering business relationships at CPMA in Vancouver at the end of April — Oppy’s home turf.
The Oppy team was thrilled to welcome the industry to its hometown, prominently featuring local growers throughout the booth and event. Senior Marketing Specialist Shea Rogers executed Oppy’s floorspace with a full espresso bar, each tasty drink being served in local grower branded cups — UP Vertical Farms, Perpetual Vegetable Co. and OriginO. Additional spaces were dedicated to celebrating other categories, including our exciting new partnership with SunGrape California, and Envy apples.
The booth hummed with activity as meetings and media interviews took place. Marketing Communications Manager Kelsey Van Lissum orchestrated a full roster of journalists eager to discuss Oppy’s commitment to its local growers with Raymond Wong from OriginO (spot Raymond’s video in The Produce News here), Bahram and Shahram Rashti from UP Vertical Farms and Sales Director of Canada Colbert Rahal. Greenhouse Category Director Kevin Batt also spoke on the subject, in addition to Oppy’s recent announcement with DEEP Earth Energy Production Corp. to build an integrated greenhouse in conjunction with Canada’s first-ever geothermal power facility. DEEP CEO Kirsten Marcia and Business Development Manager were in attendance as well.
Teammates proudly represented Oppy in the Learning Lounge where Colbert Rahal, Executive Director of Supply Chain and Logistics Stewart Lapage and VP of Food Safety and Process Excellence Steve Roosdahl took stage as panel members for sessions Growing in produce; Produce transportation: Elements of success; and Traceability: Bilateral compliance for industry, respectively.
This year, over 30 additional Vancouver staff had the opportunity to attend the show floor in shifts as part of the Grow your tomorrow program. “Attending CPMA allowed me to step out of my day-to-day responsibilities and gain a broader perspective on the business,” said Senior Manager of Finance and IT Projects Bilkis Laher. “It adds depth and color to what we do at Oppy!”
Sales Manager Kori Martin was celebrated by her teammates at the Women in produce reception, honored as an Outstanding Woman in Produce by Grocery Business Magazine, an initiative underwritten by CPMA. Kori shared some experiences and words of wisdom in the publication, which you can find here.
Beyond the trade show floor, facility tours were happening like clockwork at all three local growers through the week, welcoming retailers, journalists and more.
The festivities culminated in style as Oppy sponsored the final night banquet. Chair, CEO and Managing Partner John Anderson delivered an insightful speech introducing our “Welcome home” video spotlighting local growers, produced by Graphic Designer and Videographer Alleanna Barrera. CPMA unveiled Montreal as its host city for the 2025 CPMA, and its 100th show, stay tuned to see fellow east-coaster Senior Sales Representative Donald Slot in future teaser videos.
As show-goers began their journey home on Friday, many stuck around for CPMA’s sold-out International Sustainability Summit where John Anderson and Director of Innovation and Sustainability Garland Perkins delivered a captivating keynote called “A globally sustainable fresh produce supply chain: Challenges, barriers and opportunities.”
A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that our company and grower partners were represented with excellence. Thank you and congratulations to everyone who contributed to Oppy’s successful presence at the 2024 CPMA.
