Washington DC - Reggie Brown, executive vice president of Florida Tomato Exchange located in Maitland, FL, was awarded the 2008 United Fresh Technical Award May 6 during the United Fresh Annual Award Banquet in Las Vegas.
The annual United Fresh Technical Award honors an individual who has made significant technical contributions to the fresh produce industry in the areas of food safety, food quality, innovative technologies and overall industry image.
In his introductory remarks, United Fresh President Tom Stenzel said, “Over the past several years, Reggie has worked tirelessly toward unified food safety standards and compliance with good agricultural practices. Reggie worked with growers up the coast from Florida to get their input, and then helped forge a consensus approach to national and international guidelines with grower groups from California to Canada to Mexico. Today, the fresh tomato industry is driving forward with rigorous standards and effective compliance tools, with the FDA, the states and even the buying community as partners. These accomplishments would not have been possible without Reggie’s leadership.”
Reggie is a member of the United Fresh Government Relations Council, an editor of the Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Fresh Tomato Supply Chain, 2nd Edition and a founder of the North American Tomato Trade Working Group (NATTWG). He also participates in numerous allied professional associations.
In his acceptance remarks, Reggie thanked United Fresh and acknowledged his industry colleagues. “I certainly didn’t do this alone; there are many people who have worked very hard to bring about effective change,” said Reggie. “Our food is safe and we as the entire produce industry must ensure that consumers know our food is safe. I’m proud of the [tomato] industry.”
Reggie is a native of Florida who was raised on a family vegetable farm. He holds a bachelors and a masters degree in agriculture from the University of Florida. He began his career as an instructor of Horticulture at a Technical Institute in North Carolina. Reggie later served for 12 years as an extension agent focused on Vegetable Crops and Horticulture in the Florida Cooperative Extension Service before joining the Florida Tomato Exchange.
The United Fresh Technical Award was established by the International Fresh-cut Produce Association (IFPA) in 1995 in recognition of technical excellence. Following the merger of IFPA and United in 2006, United Fresh has continued that tradition.
###
United Fresh Produce Association is the leading industry trade association committed to driving the growth and success of produce companies and their partners. United Fresh represents the interests of member companies throughout the global, fresh produce supply chain, including family-owned, private and publicly traded businesses as well as regional, national and international companies. The association was founded in 1904 to represent the produce industry, and in 2006 took the name United Fresh as a result of a merger of the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association and the International Fresh-cut Produce Association. For more information about United Fresh visit our website at http://www.unitedfresh.org/.
|
