Photos of officers available United Fresh Announces 2008 New Board Leadership Tom Lovelace to Assume Chairmanship; Jim Lemke Nominated to Serve as Chairman-Elect

Washington, D.C. - Chairman of the Board Development Committee Nick Tompkins, Apio, 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 May 3, 2008 meeting.

Ascending to Chairman of the Board is Tom Lovelace, Executive Vice President, McEntire Produce, Columbia, SC. Lovelace has over 30 years experience in the fresh-cut produce and quick service restaurant industries, and now serves as Executive Vice President of McEntire Produce, a fresh-cut processor, tomato re-packer and vegetable wholesaler. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Performance Food Group and Chairman/CEO of Fresh Express from 1995 to 2004. During that time of rapid consolidation, PFG acquired Dixon Tom-a-toe, Redi-Cut Foods and Fresh Express. Prior to joining PFG in 1995, Lovelace spent nine years with Coronet Foods involved in both its fresh-cut processing operations and its bulk iceberg growing/shipping business in Salinas. He began his career with McDonald’s Corporation, spending 16 years with the company in an operations and supply chain management capacity.

Nominated as Chairman-Elect is Jim Lemke, Senior Vice President, C. H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., Eden Prairie, MN. Lemke oversees C.H. Robinson’s produce sales and marketing operations, as well as refrigerated transportation services. He previously served as vice president, produce, and as manager of C.H. Robinson's Corporate Procurement and Distribution Services division. Jim joined the company in 1989 after earning a B.A. degree in International Relations from the University of Minnesota. Jim has experience working in transportation, logistics, produce commodity sales and account management for the company’s retail, wholesale and foodservice customers. He currently serves on the board of the Produce for Better Health Foundation and is heavily involved with industry initiatives such as the Produce Traceability Initiative.

In addition, Michael Cavallero, President, North America Tropical Fresh Fruit of Dole Food Company is nominated to a two-year term serving as Secretary-Treasurer. Cavallero previously served on the United Fresh Board from 1996-2000.

Current Chairman, Emanuel Lazopoulos, Senior Vice President, N.A. Sales & Product Management for Del Monte Fresh Produce, N.A., in Coral Gables, FL, will move into the office of Immediate Past Chairman, and remain on the Board and the Executive Committee.

As also announced today, the Board of Directors of the Association has voted to implement a new organizational structure for its volunteer leadership. The new structure will consist of four horizontal boards representing different market segments of the produce supply chain and four expert councils in cross-cutting issue areas. Leaders of these boards and councils will join together with at-large directors chosen proportionally to represent United Fresh’s overall membership in forming a consolidated overall Board of Directors.

The following industry leaders have been nominated to serve as the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the new Supply Chain Boards, beginning May 2008:

Grower-Shipper Board:

· Al Vangelos, Chairman

Sun World International, LLC, Bakersfield, CA

· Fred Williamson, Vice Chairman

Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce, San Diego, CA

Fresh-Cut Processor Board

· Steffanie Smith, Chairman

River Point Farms, LLC, Hermiston, OR

· Ron Midyett, Vice Chairman

Apio, Inc., Guadalupe, CA

Wholesale-Distributor Board

· Matthew D’Arrigo, Chairman

D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of New York, Bronx, NY

· Brendan Comito, Vice Chairman

Capital City Fruit Company, Inc., Norwalk, IA

Retail-Foodservice Board

· Reggie Griffin, Chairman

The Kroger Company, Cincinnati, OH

· Mitch Smith, Vice Chairman

McDonald’s Corporation, Nampa, ID

The following industry leaders have been nominated to serve as the Chairmen of the United Fresh Councils, beginning May 2008:

Global Advisory Council

· David Barney, Chairman
Bakkavor, Peterborough, UK

Government Relations Council

· Mike Wootton, Chairman
Sunkist Growers, Sherman Oaks, CA

Transportation & Logistics Council

· David Dever, Chairman
Pandol Bros., Inc., Delano, CA

Food Safety & Technology Council

· Barry Eisenberg Ph.D., Chairman
River Ranch Fresh Foods, LLC, Salinas, CA

The following industry leaders have been nominated to serve as new at-large members of the United Fresh Board for a two-year term beginning May 2008:

· Mike Celani, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Ready Pac Produce, Irwindale, CA

· Tony DiMare, Vice President, DiMare Company, Ruskin, FL

· Roger Harkrider, Director of Produce, H-E-B, San Antonio, TX

· Brent Harrison, President, Al Harrison Co. Distributors, Nogales, AZ

· Michael Martin, Vice President of Sales, Rio Queen, Inc., Mission, TX

· Phillip Muir, President & CEO, Muir Copper Canyon Farms, Salt Lake City, UT

· Mark Murai, President, California Strawberry Commission, Watsonville, CA

· Doug Riley, Assistant Vice President, Produce Operations, Hy-Vee, Inc., West Des Moines, IA

· Geoff White, Vice President, Corporate Produce, Safeway, Inc., Pleasanton, CA

The following current Board Members will continue service on the Board: Nelia Alamo, Gills Onions; Ron Anderson, Spartan Stores, Inc.; Barry Bedwell, California Grape & Tree Fruit League; Matthew Caito, Imagination Farms; Peter John Condakes, Peter Condakes Company, Inc.; Pete Donlon, Earthbound Farm; Charles Hall, Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association; Brian Kocher, Chiquita Brands International; Robin Poynton, One Harvest; Ashley Rawl, Walter P. Rawl & Sons, Inc.; John Shelford, Shelford Consulting; Vic Smith, Fresh Innovations, LLC; Alan Temple, B&W Quality Growers, Inc.; Alessandro Turatti, Turatti Srl,; Rick Urschel, Urschel Laboratories; and Timothy Vaux, Vaux Group, Inc.

“In total, the slate of nominees for our new boards, councils and at-large seats, together with our returning Board members and new officers, makes this a tremendously diverse and skilled set of leaders to represent our entire industry and guide our association in the year ahead,” said Nominating Committee Chairman Tompkins.

Board Members who will complete their terms of service at the May convention include: Rick Antle, Tanimura & Antle; Charles Ciruli, Ciruli Brothers/Amex Distributing Co., Inc.; Alan Heinzen, Heinzen Manufacturing International; Mark Hilton, Harris Teeter Supermarkets; Diane Huntsinger-Carson, Crunch Pak LLC; Bruce Knobeloch, River Ranch Fresh Foods, LLC; Lawrence Kern, Kern Associates; Maureen Marshall, Torrey Farms, Inc.; Mark Miller, Fresh From Texas/Energy Sprouts, Inc.; Walter Strickland, Strickland Produce, Inc.; Jay Taylor, Taylor & Fulton, Inc.; Nick Tompkins, Apio, Inc., Mike Kemp, Save-A-Lot, Chairman of the Business Development Council; and Walter Ram, The Giumarra Companies, Co-Chairman of the Food Safety & Technology Council.

“I’d like to personally thank Nick Tompkins and the Board Development Committee for their work this year in nominating an outstanding individual in Jim Lemke to serve as Chairman-Elect, as well as a slate of great new Board members and Council and Supply Chain Board Chairmen,” said United Fresh President Tom Stenzel.

“We recognize that the strength of our association comes from strong representation of our membership across the total supply chain, bringing together an exceptional group of industry leaders to serve our industry. I’d also like to thank those leaders who are concluding their service at this meeting. We greatly appreciate the time and resources they have given to serve our industry,” he said.