J&C Tropicals has hired Tom Coufal to lead its sales and business development division. He will report directly to Adrian Capote, vice president of sales and revenue for J&C Tropicals.

Coufal brings 25 years of transformative strategic leadership and execution to the Miami-based and family-owned tropical produce grower and distributor. With a reputation as a sales leader with deep expertise in business development and leading high-performance teams, Coufal will be responsible for growing J&C Tropicals' footprint in new markets across America and Canada.

“Having Tom join J&C Tropicals

Sun World International LLC is strengthening its leadership with three new hires bringing deep backgrounds in the finance, marketing and IT sectors. Joining are Simon Heyrick, chief financial officer, Jennifer (Jen) Sanchez, vice president of marketing, and Deepak Rama, IT director.

"Simon, Jen and Deepak bring critical skills, leadership and experience in scaling high-growth organizations," said David Marguleas, president and CEO of Sun World. "We have significant global objectives in the years ahead and are pleased to bolster our leadership team with their immense talent, adding to our

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy marked the retirement of New Jersey Department of Agriculture Secretary Douglas Fisher, who served as secretary since 2009 under the Corzine Administration and after 14 years of dedicated service to the state’s agricultural community, retired effective July 1. Assistant Secretary Joe Atchison III will direct the department, assuming the responsibilities of secretary.

“Since 2009, Secretary Fisher has been a steadfast advocate for the Garden State’s agricultural community,” said Murphy. “From expanding agritourism to combating food insecurity, Secretary Fisher has

Northeast Grocery Inc., the parent company of Tops Friendly Markets and Price Chopper/Market 32, has named John Persons as chief operating officer. Persons will oversee both the Tops Markets and Price Chopper/Market 32 and operating companies, as well as the Northeast Shared Services (a subsidiary of NGI providing services to both operating companies) merchandising and marketing functions. Persons will report directly to Frank Curci, CEO of Northeast Grocery Inc. Ron Ferri, a 34-year Tops veteran, will succeed Persons as Tops president. 

Persons joins NGI after 39 years with Tops, most

California Giant Berry Farms announced the winner of the 2023 Chef Invitational, Steven Halliday from Gordon Food Service. Halliday won the title of California Giant Berry Farms’ Top Chef with his dish, red thai berry chicken curry with blueberry lemon rice.

Judged against the criteria of best overall appearance, flavor and taste appeal, creativity, use of ingredients, key trends and utilization of berries, the judges agreed that Chef Steven’s dish used berries in a unique way that packed a very flavorful, avant-garde punch.

“I’m thrilled to win the title of California Giant Top Chef,”

Brighter Bites, a national nonprofit that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables directly into families’ hands, announces the close of its 2022/2023 programming. Over the past school year, Brighter Bites distributed over 7.5 million pounds of produce to 198 schools across 10 cities. Their impact reached more than 42,000 families and provided over 24,000 nutrition education lessons and 380 culinary demonstrations to students across the country.
 
In January, Brighter Bites launched its 10th programming location in San Antonio, TX. In its first semester, Brighter Bites San Antonio was able to