WASHINGTON, D.C. – United Fresh Immediate Past Chair Cindy Jewell, SC Jewell Inc., has announced the slate of new officers and directors nominated to serve on the United Fresh Produce Association Board of Directors, effective at its March 19, 2020 meeting in Sonoma, CA.
Ascending
to Chairman of the Board is Michael Muzyk, President, Baldor Specialty Foods, Inc., Bronx, NY. Michael spent the first part of his career as a CIA-trained chef. He discovered
his love for cooking in high school working in the kitchen of a children’s camp
and through the inspiration of a family member, he enrolled in the Culinary
Institute of America in Hyde Park. Upon graduating, he worked as a chef in
various businesses around the country. In 1991, he made a career change to the
supply side of the foodservice business. Four years later, he joined Baldor,
quickly advancing through various positions until his present role as
President. Michael previously served on United Fresh’s Wholesaler-Distributor
Board. He is dedicated to giving back to the local community; he and the
company are involved with local outreach organizations such as Edible
Schoolyard, City Harvest, City Meals-on-Wheels and NYC Foodbanks.
Nominated as
Chair-Elect is Danny Dumas, Senior Vice President N.A. Sales & Product Management, Del Monte
Fresh Produce, N.A., Inc., Coral Gables, FL, who was born and raised in Canada
where he studied in both English and French. Upon completion of college, he
started his career in produce at Dole Fresh Fruit Company where he held various
positions. In 1997, he joined Montreal produce wholesaler, J.B. Laverdure as a
produce buyer and seller. A year later, Danny joined Del Monte Fresh Produce to
manage its first and only Canadian office as District Sales Manager. Since that
time, he has held various positions with Del Monte Fresh including Vice
President of Operations for Europe and Africa at its European offices in Monte
Carlo, Monaco. In 2014, Danny returned to Florida, and assumed his current position
in April 2019. Danny will assume the Chairmanship of
United Fresh in 2021.
Nominated
as Secretary-Treasurer is Michael Castagnetto, President, Robinson
Fresh, Eden
Prairie, MN. Michael uses his nearly 20
years of experience and knowledge to open global, perishable supply chains and
continues to build relationships with those in the fresh produce industry. He
has built and sustained relationships with growers, suppliers and customers
with a goal of helping them build, develop and evolve their businesses. His
ability to integrate logistics with fresh produce helps to drive growth for
Robinson Fresh and the company’s industry partners. He is a graduate of Saint
Mary’s College of California.
Current
United Fresh Board Chairman Greg Corrigan, CEO, United Vegetable Growers
Cooperative, will move to the position of Immediate Past Chair and remain on
the Board and the Executive Committee.
The
following industry leaders have been nominated to serve as new members of the
United Fresh Board for a two-year term beginning March 2020:
Melissa Melshenker
Ackerman is
President of Produce Alliance, Chicago, IL. Melissa leads a national produce
company specializing in consulting and purchasing of fresh produce from field
to fork. Prior to being named President, she held the positions of Associate
General Counsel, VP of Sales, and Executive VP of Sales. She also created the
PA Foundation, a philanthropic organization designed to be a first-line
responder to emergent humanitarian situations. Melissa also serves on the
Advisory Board for Freight Farms and was recognized as a winner of Produce
Business’ 40 under Forty in 2018. Melissa studied at the University of
Wisconsin, graduating in 2005 with three distinct degrees in Legal Studies,
Women’s Studies, and Spanish. She earned her J.D. from the University of Miami
School of Law in 2008.
José
Antonio Gómez Bazán is Managing Director of Camposol
International, Lima, Peru. He has extensive international experience in the
fresh food industry and international trade, including leading the
international expansion of Camposol group in Europe, USA and China. He currently
serves as Vice Chair of the Peruvian Avocado Commission, Director of the World
Avocado Organization and Alt. Director of the Hass Avocado Board. He was a past
board member in the Produce Marketing Association and is a past chair of the
Peruvian Institute of Asparagus (IPEH). His previous experience includes senior
management positions at Chiquita Brands in the US, Costa Rica and Europe, as
well as Director of Corporate Banking at Banco de Credito del Peru and Project
Manager at IBM Peru.
Lisa
McNeece is
Vice President of Foodservice and Industrial Sales for Grimmway Enterprises
Inc., Bakersfield, CA. She began her career with Grimmway back in 1991. She has
served on various industry boards including United Fresh, PMA, Produce for
Better Health, and the USDA Fruit & Vegetable Advisory committee. Since the
inception of the United Fresh Start Foundation, she has given a great deal of
her time and energy to increasing the needs and awareness for Fresh Fruits and
Vegetables in schools around the country. She was recognized as United Fresh’s Women
in Produce honoree in 2013, received PMA’s Foodservice Achievement Award in
2008 and was recognized in the Packer 25 in 2010. Lisa joins the Board as Chair
of the United Fresh Start Foundation.
James Rogers is Founder & CEO
of Apeel Sciences, Goleta, CA. Dr. Rogers leads corporate strategy and Apeel’s
team of award-winning scientists in developing plant-derived technologies that
keep fruits and vegetables fresh longer. James received dual undergraduate degrees
from Carnegie Mellon University in Materials Science & Engineering and
Biomedical Engineering, and his PhD in Materials from the University of
California, Santa Barbara. James was the 2012 recipient of the Frank J. Padden
Jr. Award in polymer physics, the premier polymer physics prize in the United
States.
Natalie
Shuman is
the Director of Trade and Retail Marketing for Apeel Sciences, Goleta, CA. Natalie has over 15 years of experience in
B2B Trade Marketing, Shopper & Consumer Marketing, Public Relations
and Journalism, along with over a decade’s worth of produce marketing
knowledge. Natalie led the development and global management of the Sun World
brand, as well as marketing strategies across all of the company’s B2B and B2C
touch points. Prior to Sun World, Natalie gained internal and external
communications experience at Kaiser Permanente and most recently, prior to
Apeel, Natalie broadened her industry knowledge to include ag technology, as
the Director of Marketing for Concentric Ag. Natalie is a United Fresh Produce Leadership
Program alumna (Class 18) and joins the Board as Chair of the Leadership Alumni
Board.
Mary Thompson is the Chief
Executive Officer of Bonduelle Fresh Americas, Irwindale, CA. Mary brings more than 25 years of
experience to the role having led various business segments at Cargill, a
global business-to-business company with more than 150,000 employees and food,
agriculture, financial and industrial customers in more than 125 countries.
Most recently, she was President and Managing Director of Cargill Meats Europe,
a $1 billion business with 3,000 employees in the United Kingdom, France and
Russia. She holds a bachelor’s degree in
psychology and social relations from Harvard University and an MBA with
emphasis in finance and strategy from Columbia University.
Current Board members
nominated to new positions of service on Market Segment Boards and Councils
include:
- Chair,
Grower-Shipper Board – Eric Halverson, Chief Executive Officer, Black Gold Farms,
Grand Forks, ND - Vice-Chair,
Grower-Shipper Board – Paul Lightfoot, President, BrightFarms, Irvington,
NY - Chair,
Retail-Foodservice Board – Sarah Grady, Manager, U.S. Strategic Supply Chain, McDonalds
Corporation, Chicago, IL - Vice-Chair,
Retail-Foodservice Board – Richard Gonzales, Vice President, Global Produce
Sourcing, Walmart Stores Inc., Bentonville, AR
The
following officers of Market Segment Boards and Councils will continue their
service on the Board:
- Chair,
Fresh-Cut Processor Board – Raina
Nelson, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain,
Renaissance Food Group, Rancho Cordova, CA - Vice Chair, Fresh-Cut Processor Board, Sparky
Locke, Nipomo, CA- Chair,
Wholesaler-Distributor Board – Tom Brugato,
President, Pacific Coast Fruit Company, Portland, OR
- Vice-Chair,
Wholesaler-Distributor Board – Jason Hollinger,
President & CEO, Four Seasons Family of Companies, Ephrata, PA
- Chair,
Finance & Business Management Council – Michael
McGee,
Vice President, Finance, L & M Companies, Raleigh, NC
- Chair,
- Chair,
Food Safety & Technology Council – Cheryl Enlow, Vice President,
Quality Assurance and Food Safety, Renaissance Food Group, Rancho Cordova, CA - Chair,
Government Relations Council – Mark
Klompien, President/CEO, United Potato Growers of America, Salt Lake City,
UT - Chair,
Produce Marketing & Merchandising Council – Mark Munger, Vice
President, Sales & Marketing, 4EARTH Farms, Los Angeles, CA - Chair,
Supply Chain Logistics Council – Jeff Moore, Vice President of Sales,
Midwest Region, Tom Lange Company, Inc., St. Louis, MO
The
following At-Large Board Members will continue their service on the Board: Mason Arnold, Cece’s Veggie Co.; Jim
Bair, U.S. Apple Association; Luca
Ascari, ABL SpA; Jeff Church, Church Brothers; Chris Ciruli, Ciruli Brothers, LLC; Dave
Donat, Produce Pro;John
Gates, Lancaster Foods; Mark
Girardin, North Bay Produce; CJ Given, Taylor Farms Retail; Roger
Harkrider,Brookshire Grocery Company; Jim
Hay, CORTEVA Agriscience; Jeff
Huckaby, Grimmway Enterprises; Zak Laffite, Wonderful Citrus; Hector Lujan, Reiter Affiliated Companies; David Murray, Sundance
Berry Farms; John Newell, Windset
Farms; Ramon Paz-Vega, Zano SA de CV;
Jim Schallman, Danaco Solutions; Mayda
Sotomayor-Kirk, Seald Sweet International/Greenyard USA; Rob Strube III,
Strube Celery & Vegetable Company and Allie Wainer, Sid Wainer &
Son.
“Our
organization thrives on the strength and diversity of the leadership on the
United Fresh Board of Directors,” said United Fresh’s President & CEO Tom
Stenzel. “This slate of new Board members, along with those returning to the
Board, will provide a strong representation and leadership of our industry.”
Board members
concluding service at the March 2020 meeting include: Immediate Past Chair Cindy Jewell, SC Jewell Inc.; Jeff Cady, Tops Friendly Markets, who
also served as Chair of the Retail-Foodservice Board; John Jackson,
Beachside Produce, who also served as Chair of the Grower-Shipper Board; Doug
Kling, Kling Strategic Partners; Phil Muir, Muir Copper Canyon
Farms, who also served as Chair of the United Fresh Start Foundation, Kristen
Reid, MIXTEC Group, who also served as Chair of the Leadership Alumni Board
and Brent Scattini, Seven Seas Fruit.
“I’d
like to extend a personal thanks to all of the Board members who are concluding
their service at this upcoming meeting, including our Immediate Past Chair Cindy
Jewell who provided exceptional leadership to our organization during her years
of service,” said Stenzel. “With an industry as diverse and complex as ours, we
are grateful to the dedicated members of our Board who have helped navigate the
challenges in our industry and further advance our organization. We appreciate
the time and service they have dedicated to United and the industry.”
“I’d
also like to personally thank Cindy and Board Development Committee members,
Greg Corrigan, Michael Muzyk, Danny Dumas, Eric Halverson, Sparky Locke, Jason
Hollinger and Sarah Grady for their work this year in nominating an impressive
slate of officers and Board members. Their job was to help develop a strong and
representative leadership on the Board for the coming years to drive our
association forward, and I commend them for developing this strong slate of
industry leaders,” Stenzel said.
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About United Fresh
Produce Association
Founded
in 1904, the United Fresh Produce Association brings together companies across
every segment of the fresh produce supply chain, including growers, shippers,
fresh cut processors, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, foodservice
operators, industry suppliers and allied associations. We empower industry
leaders to shape sound government policy. We deliver the resources and expertise
companies need to succeed in managing complex business and technical issues. We
provide the training and development individuals need to advance their careers
in produce. Through these endeavors, we unite our industry with a common
purpose – to build long-term value for our members and grow produce
consumption.
