Page 6 - January_2019

produce watch
TRANSITION
DRISCOLL’S
J. Miles Reiter reassumed the
ANNOUNCEMENT
CARKOSKI, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF FOUR SEASONS FAMILY OF COMPANIES, RETIRES Ron Carkoski, who served as the chief executive of Four Seasons Family of Companies, Ephrata, PA, since 2002, retired on Dec. 21, 2018. Carkoski started his career at Four Seasons Produce in 1994 as the director of procurement after previous leadership roles
J. Miles Reiter
position of chief executive for Driscoll’s, Watsonville, CA, as part of planned leadership restructuring. As a fourth-generation grower and the grandson of one of Driscoll’s founders, Reiter will continue to
serve as Driscoll’s chairman, a
Ron Carkoski
at Gateway Foods in Wisconsin. In 2006, he formed three new companies to respond to opportunities within the produce industry: Earth Source Trading, Sunrise Logistics and Sunrise Transport, along with Four Seasons Produce. Under Carkoski’s leadership, Four Seasons experienced tremendous growth. “Ron carried on the entrepreneur spirit of founder David Hollinger, and that spirit is alive and well throughout our team today,” says
role he has held for more than 30 years. Kevin Murphy, who was named chief
executive in 2015 after serving as president and chief operating of cer, will leave this position by the end of the year. “Reshaping our leadership structure allows us to adapt to our ever-changing marketplace as well as streamline our close work with growers and customers to meet the high expectations that consumers globally have of our berries and brand,” says Reiter.
TRANSITION
DULCINEA FARMS
Continuing its commitment to its range of personal-size seedless melons, Dulcinea Farms, part of Paci c Trellis Fruit, Los Angeles, has hired Sandra Sanchez as director of quality assurance. Sanchez will act as a “bridge between the sales team
Sandra Sanchez and our physical inventory and will focus on aspects such as quality,
condition, and aging,” says Camille Lombardo, director of eld operations.Sanchez comes to Dulcinea from Berry Fresh LLC, bringing deep knowl- edge in the logistics of export and import of tree fruits and berries.
TRANSITION
ALLEN LUND COMPANY
Zach Anderson, who has worked
for The Allen Lund Company for
the past four years, has been promoted to assistant manager
of the St. Louis of ce. Anderson started as a transportation broker and was most recently a business development specialist. “Now that
I’m stepping into a management role, I look forward to using the knowledge and skills
I’ve developed to help grow the St. Louis of ce into one of the top of ces in the company,” he says. Anderson attended Western Illinois University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management, while minoring in supply chain management.
Jason Hollinger, president. “One of his favorite lines in the early years was, ‘say yes’ and we will gure out how to do it later.” Carkoski has served as chairman of the United Fresh board of directors, and chairman of its Wholesale Distributor Board. He will receive United Fresh’s lifetime achievement award this month at the FreshStart 2019 conference in LaQuinta, CA. In retirement, he plans to spend time shing, playing the piano and staying involved in the produce industry.
ANNOUNCEMENT
IDAHO POTATO COMMISSION’S RETAIL
CONTEST WILL SEND WINNER TO HAWAII
One lucky entrant in the Idaho Potato Commission’s 2019 retail display competition — which takes place Jan. 14 through March 15 — will be saying “aloha”
to a six-night/seven-day stay at Hawaii’s Royal Lahaina Resort in Maui, the grand prize for the annual contest’s sweepstakes drawing. The winning trip for two will include round-trip airfare, six nights/seven days’ ocean view accommodations, room taxes and $2,500 in cash. A second Maui vacation package will be awarded to the sweep- stakes winner’s category manager. Altogether, the 28th-annual retail display contest will give out more than $150,000 in cash and prizes. Everyone who enters the contest will receive a 1.5-liter Toastmaster Air Fryer. Retailers with smaller displays shouldn’t hesitate to enter the contest because these displays have the same chance of winning as larger displays do, according to IPC marketing manager Jamie Bowen. “Creativity — not size — is the key to making a show-stopping display,” she says. Retailers will compete with other same-size stores in one of three categories: 1-5 cash registers, 6-9 cash registers,
or 10-plus cash registers. Complete contest details, as well as rules for entry and prizes, can be found at idahopotato.com/retail.
TRANSITION
IDAHO POTATO COMMISSION
Alan Kahn, who has more than 25
TRANSITION
THE NUNES COMPANY
The Nunes Company, Salinas, CA,
one of the nation’s largest grow-
er-shippers of conventional and
organic fresh produce marketed
under the Foxy brand name, has
elected Tom M. Nunes president
of the company. Nunes began
working for the company more
than 20 years ago after graduating
from Cornell University. He initially moved to the company’s Yuma, AZ, operations and then began the process of working through all areas.“I’ve watched Tom grow up in our business,” says Bob Nunes, Sr., co-founder of the company. “He has experience in all aspects of our organization, including production, cooling, shipping, sales and marketing. Most importantly, he has a passion
and insatiable curiosity about our business, and
he constantly seeks to build on his knowledge and leadership. I believe his capabilities will make him an exceptional president. Tom Nunes, Jr., who has served as president since 2006, remains as exec- utive vice-president. “It gives me great pleasure to pass the torch on to my son,” says Nunes Jr. “He has earned the position through hard work in all critical areas of our business and will bring new energy and leadership to our company.”
ANNOUNCEMENT
THE WONDERFUL COMPANY RAISES
MINIMUM WAGE TO $15 PER HOUR
The Wonderful Company, Los Angeles, increased its minimum wage to $15/hour for full-time California employees effective Jan. 1, 2019. This means a 36 percent jump in pay for those making the current state-mandated minimum wage.“Our dedicated and hard-working employees are our greatest asset and the reason for our tremendous success as a company,” says Stewart Resnick, chairman and president, The Wonderful Company. “We encourage others in the agriculture industry to follow our lead.” This increase comes three years before Cali- fornia state law will require all large employers to meet a $15/hour minimum wage and represents an $80 million investment bene ting workers across Wonderful Citrus, Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds, Wonderful Orchards, Wonderful Nurseries, POM Wonderful, JUSTIN Wines and Landmark Wines.
Tom M. Nunes
Zach Anderson
TRANSITION
NACS
specialist for Johnstone Supply in Dallas. Before that, she served in several
accounting capacities at Earthbound Trading Company. She is also co-owner of the online bakery Something Sweet. The U.S. convenience store industry, with more than 154,000 stores nationwide selling fuel, food and merchandise, serves 165 million customers daily — half the U.S. population.
Claudia Gameiro
Claudia Gameiro was recently hired as data services coordi- nator for Alexandria, VA-based NACS, which serves the conve- nience store and fuel retailing industry by sharing ideas and insights. Gameiro comes to NACS
after serving as an accounting
Alan Kahn
years of experience in foodservice, food marketing, and new business development in the potato industry, was hired as vice president of foodservice at the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) in Boise, ID. During his tenures at Ore-Ida Foods, McCain Foods USA, and the J.R. Simplot
Company, Kahn was involved in sales, marketing and new product development for retail and foodservice products. He also worked at Pilgrim’s Pride Corpo- ration and was vice president of marketing for Clear Springs Foods. Most recently, Kahn served as the bureau chief of communications and marketing for the Idaho Department of Fish & Game.
Produce & Floral Watch are regular features of Produce Business. Please send information on new products, personnel changes, industry, corporate and personal milestones and available literature, along with a high resolution image to: Managing Editor, Produce Business, P.O. Box 810425, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0425 or email us at info@producebusiness.com.
6 / JANUARY 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS