Chairman of the United Fresh Produce Association (United Fresh) Board Development Committee Emanuel Lazopoulos, Del Monte Fresh Produce, has announced the slate of new officers and directors nominated to serve on the United Fresh Board of Directors, effective at its April 20 meeting.

Assuming the position of Chairman of the Board is Jim Lemke, Senior Vice President, C. H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., Eden Prairie, Minn.  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. 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 efforts such as the Produce Traceability Initiative.

Nominated as Chairman-Elect is Steffanie Smith, CEO, River Point Farms LLC, Hermiston, Ore.  Smith was named CEO of River Point Farms in October 2007 after serving as president of the Deli/Prepared Foods Division of Taylor Farms, one of the largest fresh-cut vegetable suppliers to the foodservice industry.  Prior to that, Smith served as president of Pacific Pre-cut Produce for 10 years before it was acquired by Taylor Farms in August 2005.  Steffanie worked at National Pre-Cut Produce in the early days of the bagged salad industry from 1993-1995, focusing on sales and marketing, and learning the operations side of the fresh-cut business.  Before moving to Salinas in 1993, she worked on the United Fresh staff, making Steffanie the first former staff member to ever serve as the association’s Chairman. Smith received her B.S. in Political Science from University of California, Los Angeles. 

Current Chairman, Tom Lovelace, Executive Vice President, McEntire Produce, Columbia, S.C., will move to the position of Immediate Past Chairman and remain on both the Board and the Executive Committee.

Michael Cavallero, President, North America Tropical Fresh Fruit, Dole Food Company, will continue to serve in an ongoing term as Secretary-Treasurer. 

The following industry leaders have been nominated to serve as new members of the United Fresh Board for a two-year term beginning April 2009:

·         Jan Berk, Vice President, San Miguel Produce, Inc., Oxnard, Calif., is nominated to serve as Vice Chairman of the Fresh-Cut Processor Board.  Jan has been involved with San Miguel since the late 1980’s working on marketing projects, joining the company full-time in 2001 and becoming a partner in 2006.  She also has had an extensive career in marketing and media, serving as Director of Communications & Public Affairs and Director of Marketing for the Los Angeles Times and the LA News Group, as well as a direct marketing firm in Los Angeles, Rauxa Direct.  She currently serves on the board of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement.

·         John L. Chrosniak, Director, North America Crop Protection, DuPont Crop Protection, Wilmington, Del., provides leadership and strategic direction to the sales, marketing and field development efforts of DuPont’s crop protection business in the United States and Canada.  Prior to joining DuPont, John was a senior manager with Deloitte Consulting.  He received his MBA from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia and his B.A. from James Madison University.

·         Ana Hooper, Vice President, Total Quality, Darden Restaurants, Orlando, Fla., is responsible for ensuring the safety and quality of more than 3,000 different products from 1,500 suppliers in 35 countries around the world.  She and her team direct the food safety and quality practices in more than 1,700 Darden restaurants, including Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52.  She has a B.S. in microbiology from Florida State University.

·         Lorri A. Koster, Co-Chairman of the Board, Mann Packing Company, Salinas, Calif., is in the third generation of her family business, having started her full-time career at Mann Packing in 1990.  She also serves as editorial director of Coastal Grower magazine, and previously worked as vice president of marketing at ProduceOnline.com.  She is currently vice chairman of the Grower Shipper Association of Central California, serves on the board of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement and is the former chair of the International Fresh-cut Produce Association.  She has a B.A. in public relations from California State University, Chico.

·         David W. Krause, President, Paramount Citrus Association, Delano, Calif., has lived in the Central Valley of California and worked in agriculture his whole life.  He joined Paramount Citrus in 1999 as COO and was named President in 2001.  Paramount Citrus is the largest integrated grower and packer of citrus in California.  Paramount owns and farms approximately 30,000 acres in various locations throughout California and Mexico.  David has served in numerous industry roles, including the California Citrus Growers Association, California Citrus Mutual and the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation.  He has an A.S. in plant science from Reedley College in California.

·         Jackson Woodward, CEO and President, Horton Fruit Company, Louisville, Ky., joined the company in 1997 after completing his MBA at Indiana University.  Horton Fruit is a family-owned repacker, processor and full-line distributor of fruits and vegetables.  He is also CEO of Grow Farms, a grower-shipper of regional produce; Flagship Transportation, a freight hauling business; and First Call Logistics, a truck brokerage company, in addition to serving as president and director of the Louisville Produce Terminal.  A native of Oklahoma, he is a graduate of the United Fresh Produce Industry Leadership Program, and has a B.A. from the University of Virginia.

Current Board members nominated to new positions of service leading expert advisory councils are:

·         Chairman, Government Relations Council -- Barry Bedwell, President and CEO, California Grape & Treefruit League, Fresno, Calif.

·         Chairman, Nutrition and Health Council – Ashley W. Rawl, Director, Sales & Marketing, Walter P. Rawl & Sons, Pelion, S.C.

The following current At-Large Board Members will continue service on the Board: Nelia Alamo, Gills Onions; Mike Celani, Ready Pac Produce; Peter John Condakes, Peter Condakes Company, Inc.; Tony DiMare, DiMare Company; Pete Donlon, Earthbound Farm; Charles Hall, Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association; Roger Harkrider, H-E-B; Brent Harrison, Al Harrison Co. Distributors; Brian Kocher, Chiquita Brands International; Michael Martin, Rio Queen, Inc.; Phillip Muir, Muir Copper Canyon Farms; Mark Murai, California Strawberry Commission; Robin Poynton, One Harvest; Doug Riley, Hy-Vee, Inc.; Alan Temple, B&W Quality Growers, Inc.; Alessandro Turatti, Turatti Srl; Rick Urschel, Urschel Laboratories and Geoff White, Safeway, Inc.

The following officers of Market Segment Boards and Councils will continue service on the Board: 

·         Grower-Shipper Board:  Chairman Al Vangelos, Sun World International LLC; Vice Chairman Fred Williamson, Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce

·         Wholesaler-Distributor Board:  Chairman Matthew D’Arrigo, D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of New York; Vice Chairman Brendan Comito, Capital City Fruit Company Inc.

·         Retail-Foodservice Board:  Chairman Reggie Griffin, The Kroger Company; Vice Chairman Mitch Smith, McDonald’s Corporation

·         Fresh-Cut Processor Board: With the elevation of Steffanie Smith from Chairman of the Fresh-Cut Board to Chairman-Elect of the association, Ron Midyett, CEO, Apio Inc., will become Chairman of the Fresh-Cut Board

·         Global Advisory Council:  Chairman David Barney, Bakkavor

·         Supply Chain Logistics & Technology Council: Chairman David Dever, Pandol Brothers Inc.

·         Food Safety & Technology Council:  Chairman Barry Eisenberg, Ph.D., River Ranch Fresh Foods

In addition, the following individuals are nominated to fill open seats on the Market Segment Boards indicated:

·         Fresh-Cut Processor Board:  Garth Bormann, Taylor Farms Inc, Tracy, Calif.; David Russell, Del Monte Fresh Produce, Coral Gables, Fla.

·         Wholesaler-Distributor Board: Joe Klare, Castellini Company LLC, Newport, Ky.

·         Retail-Foodservice Board: Scott Sargent, Chick-fil-A Inc., Atlanta, Ga.

"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 Lazopoulos.

Board members concluding service at the April meeting include:

·         Emanuel Lazopoulos, Senior Vice President, Del Monte Fresh Produce, who served as Chairman of the Board in 2007-2008 and this past year as Immediate Past Chairman.

·         Michael Wootton, Senior Vice President, Sunkist Growers Inc., who has served as Chairman of the Government Relations Council.  Wootton will continue to provide industry leadership as a member of that Council.

Also concluding service are at-large Board members Ron Anderson; Matthew Caito, Imagination Farms; John Shelford, Shelford Consulting; Vic Smith, Fresh Innovations, LLC and Timothy Vaux, Vaux Group, Inc.

"I’d like to personally thank those leaders who are concluding their service at this meeting," said United Fresh President Tom Stenzel.  "They have contributed greatly to our industry’s success in so many ways, and we appreciate the time and resources they have given to serve our industry," 

"I’d also like to thank Emanuel Lazopoulos and Board Development Committee members Nelia Alamo, Barry Bedwell, Brendan Comito, Tom Lovelace and Jim Lemke for their work this year in nominating an outstanding individual in Steffanie Smith to serve as Chairman-Elect, as well as a slate of great new Board members.  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."