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BETH OLESON, 40
Director Of Education And Food Safety
Georgia Fruit And Vegetable Growers Association
HQ: LaGrange, GA
Hometown: Tifton, GA
Hobbies: Cooking, bible study, travel Personal/Community: Married, two chil- dren, huge fan of University of Georgia, First Baptist Church — worship leader, Sunday school teacher, small group leader
Motto in life: God is in control, so you can relax.
Work history: Since Oleson’s start with the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Asso- ciation (GFVGA) in 2005, she has worked to educate Southeastern producers regarding food safety on farms and in packing facili- ties. Under her leadership, GFVGA was able to launch a full-service food safety consul- tation and educational outreach program called Produce Food Safety Services or PFSS. Through PFSS, Oleson and two food safety specialists offer customized food safety consulting and program develop- ment to produce operations nationwide. She also coordinates all GFVGA educational activities, including the three-day educa- tional conference at the annual Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference. Her professional achievements have earned her various leadership roles within the industry and the United Fresh Produce Association. Before joining the GFVGA, she was the marketing director for Island Tomato Growers, a co-op of tomato growers on John’s Island, SC. There she gained first- hand experience in almost every aspect of a commercial produce operation, which provided the framework for her work with GFVGA. On top of working with the co-op to begin a marketing plan, she was baptized by fire with “fun” visits from the Depart- ment of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. She worked with the harvest crew leaders, fished trash out of the irrigation pond, dealt
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with truck drivers and pack-outs and helped implement a food safety program. She is a 2007 graduate of the Advancing Georgia’s Leaders in Agriculture and Forestry (AGL), as well as the 2011-2012 United Fresh Produce Industry Leadership Program Fellow. She was recognized as UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association’s 2009 Young Alumni Achievement Award.
Q: What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of in your career?
I am so proud of the work I’ve done with growers/packers/shippers across the Southeast to help them understand what food safety is, how to establish a food safety culture, and making food safety easier to implement. Because of this work and understanding, I’ve been able to work with regulators to educate them on what a written food safety regulation created at a desk may actually look like on a farm, with a harvest crew, or at a packing facility.
Q: What advice would you give someone new to the produce industry? Do what you do as well as you can. Find ways to bring real solutions or answer real needs to the industry. Be genuine and don’t feel pressure to act like or look like anyone else. There is a place waiting for the unique person that is you.
Q: What do you see as the most critical “hot button” issue facing the industry in the next decade? Regulatory mandates are the most crit- ical — not only from the government — but also from our buyers. Not all regu- lations are bad or difficult. But each regu- latory mandate requires more time, more employee training, more employee over- sight, possibly more employees, changes to production practices or handling, more materials or resources, and ultimately, all this means more costs. These require- ments are not being met with an increased price per box from the buying community, consumers or commodity subsidies (not that we are asking for subsidies). When other countries around the world are able to grow, harvest, pack and ship produce for a lower cost because they don’t have the same regulatory burdens and mandates (worker wages, input costs, etc.), the U.S. produce industry is not setting up for long term success or viability.
JAMES ROGERS, 34 Chief Executive, Founder Apeel Sciences
HQ: Goleta, CA
Hometown: Battle Ground, WA
Hobbies: Eating avocados, yoga, driving Motto in life: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Work history: Immediately after receiving his PhD in 2012, Rogers launched Apeel Sciences with the objective of fighting the global food waste crisis by utilizing advances in materials science. The compa- ny’s plant-derived technology helps USDA Certified Organic and conventional fresh- food growers, suppliers and retailers main- tain produce quality and extend shelf life, minimizing food waste from the farm to the retail shelf to the kitchen table. Rogers founded Apeel Sciences with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with the goal of helping reduce postharvest food loss in developing countries that lack access to refrigeration. Today, Apeel formulations have been proven effective at reducing the rate of spoilage for dozens of USDA Certified Organic and conventional produce cate- gories. The company works with partners ranging from smallholder farmers and local organic growers to the world’s largest food brands and retailers. As chief executive, Rogers leads corporate strategy and Apeel Sciences’ team of award-winning scientists in developing plant-derived technolo- gies that keep fruits and vegetables fresh longer, so less is wasted. He received dual undergraduate degrees from Carnegie Mellon University in Materials Science & Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. in Materials from the University of California-Santa Barbara. He was the 2012 recipient of the Frank J. Padden Jr. Award in polymer physics, the premier polymer physics prize in the United States.
Q: How did you begin working in the produce industry?
When I was in graduate school, I spent a number of years quite literally watching paint dry in an effort to create a new kind of solar paint that would, in the long-term, provide an interesting solution to democra- tizing clean energy. During my studies, I’d have to take long drives from Santa Barbara to Northern California, during which I would listen to podcasts. One such day, I learned how much of the world is hungry, as well as how much food we throw away. It seemed so backward to me. I then thought about how we could potentially stop water evap- oration that causes the perishability. This led me to explore how we could create a barrier for food — made of food — that would slow down spoilage. The idea for Apeel was born.
Q: What aspect of the business chal- lenged you the most early on?
Like many technology companies, our biggest challenge was creating a market where no market exists. Not only did we need to invent a technology, but we also had to present the innovation to potential partners, some of whom think, “the trash can is my best customer.”The trick to over- coming this was demonstrating the product to customers and quantifying the ROI for live commercial programs.
Q: What industry improvements would you like to see?
I think there is an opportunity to develop a focus on sustainability within the industry. Food loss worldwide causes as much as $940 billion per year in economic losses. And why do people throw food away? Mostly because produce spoils before people can eat it.
Q: What has shocked or surprised you about the produce industry?
I’ve been happily surprised that there are members of the produce industry who are eager to embrace change. Many industries, even when faced with a problem they didn’t know existed, will sweep it under the rug. What I find so exciting about the produce industry is many people are looking for ways to bring sustainable practices to their packing houses and retail stores. I think with this acceptance, the produce industry will be able to revolutionize the way people eat and the way people think about food and food waste.