United Fresh Produce Association Gets New Leadership

Anthony Gallino. Erin Hanas Archey. Ken Holthouse. You might be familiar with these names already. If not, you will be soon. These are three of the 12 individuals recently named to the United Fresh Produce Association’s Produce Industry Leadership Program. Now in its 13th year, the program is designed to provide promising young leaders with the tools they need to “achieve unprecedented success in the produce industry.”

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To be named to this elite group, applicants must submit two essays explaining why they want to become a part of the program, and what they consider to be the most important challenges affecting the produce industry. If they are accepted to the program, they will spend the next year traveling the country, further developing their skills in leadership, business relationships, government and public affairs, and communications.

Gallino, Hanas Archey, and Holt-house, along with the other participants in the program, represent the future of the vegetable industry. Actually, to be more accurate, they represent both the present and the future. Through their involvement and leadership with California Giant, A. Duda & Sons, and Doug Walcher Farms, respectively, they have quickly moved up the ladder to the top of the industry, and are poised to carry their success into the next generation of vegetable growing.

Leading The Charge

SEED is another name you should recognize. It is American Vegetable Grower’s commitment to bringing renewed energy to the American vegetable industry by helping growers identify opportunities to become successful, both as individuals and as a community.

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SEED includes four key components, highlighted below, and it’s safe to say that the members of United’s Leadership Program are easily suited to represent these principles throughout the entire industry.

• Stand Tall Together — As mentioned, the leadership class will take part in numerous events and meet with key industry leaders and decision makers on the state and federal level. They’ll be working as a common voice to represent the needs of the entire vegetable industry.

Engage The Consumer — By getting involved in vegetable growing and marketing at an early age, they have no doubt sharpened their skills in working closely with consumers to determine their needs as produce buyers, and worked hard to make sure their companies are accommodating those needs.

• Embrace New Technology — We’re in the age of not only cell phones and MySpace pages, but closer to home, global positioning systems and yield monitoring. Growers such as those mentioned above have been quick to pick up on this and other technology and adapt it to their own businesses.

• Deliver Quality — Many of the members of United’s Produce Industry Leadership Program are third- or fourth-generation growers. The operations they are with have been successful all these years for a reason: They’ve been able to grow high-quality vegetables and deliver them to their markets. As these individuals lead the industry into the future, they are keeping an even greater eye on quality than ever before. In an era of competition with other countries and with other products on the supermarket shelves, this is a vital skill to have.

Feedback Is Appreciated

Brian Sparks is a name that might not be as familiar. For the past seven years, I have served editorial roles for AVG’s sister publication, American Fruit Grower. During that time, I have worked side by side with the editors of this magazine, and am now the group editor for the Fruit and Vegetable Group here at Meister Media Worldwide. I welcome your comments and suggestions — please drop me an e-mail at [email protected] with any comments you might have. Thanks!

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