Duda Farm Fresh Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary of Duda and a leading grower of fresh vegetables and citrus, announced Mark Bassetti, former chief operating officer and senior vice president of Duda Farm Fresh Foods, as the subsidiary’s new president.

“Mark brings 31 years of experience to the role and is incredibly qualified, with both industry knowledge and the leadership traits necessary to lead Duda Farm Fresh Foods successfully,” said Barton Weeks, Duda’s chief operating officer. “Because of the unique demands of the fresh produce business and our business model, Mark was determined to

Joe Mollner has been named vice president of operations for Nunes Vegetables Inc.

Since starting in the industry with Harvest Management LLC in 2005, Mollner has worked in all aspects of harvesting, becoming its vice president of operations in 2014.

His experience includes working for growers in Oxnard, Huron, Salinas, Yuma and Yerington on all facets of production, including schedules and varietal selection. Mollner has coordinated cooling companies transition periods and he has been engaged closely with sales
on crop plans for all the growing regions.

"Having known Joe for over 30 years

Jose Rossignoli has been named the new president of Robinson Fresh. He succeeds Michael Castagnetto who has been promoted within C.H. Robinson to vice president of customer success supporting the North American Surface Transportation division.

Rossignoli, who has been with the company since 2012, has held various leadership roles within Robinson Fresh, including general manager, director of global sourcing and most recently, vice president of global sourcing. In that time, he has been a key player in evolving the business into one of the leading supply chain product and services companies in

Awe Sum Organics has hired Gabriel Avalos to lead its team as general manager. 

A 20-plus year veteran in the produce industry, Avalos brings with him expertise and strong performance in many agricultural business operations, including demand-supply planning, sales and operational planning, supply forecasting, harvesting operations, grower management, strategic planning, supply chain and sourcing within international and domestic markets, and building and managing high performing teams. As a cross-functional team builder and dedicated professional, Avalos has a very successful track record of

Andre Michael Radandt, former president and chairman of Bolthouse Farms, died Dec. 29. He was 60.

Mr. Radandt had a visionary business career that was rewarded with remarkable success, including the introduction of Bolthouse juices and salad dressings.

Mr. Radandt was born June 2, 1962, in Lake Forest, IL, to immigrant parents from Germany. The Wheaton College graduate's accomplishments, in number and breadth, rival those of a much longer life span.

Mr. Radandt and his wife, Lisa Bolthouse Radandt, had four children, Ellen Stremler, Alex Radandt, Lydia Caruso and Ryan Radandt, and two

Eric Biddiscombe has joined Algoma Orchards Corp. as director of sales and business development.

“We are excited to have a produce industry leader of Eric’s caliber join our senior team at Algoma” said Kirk Kemp, president of Algoma Orchards.  “Eric is very well respected on both the vendor and retail sides of the business with a very diverse leadership background in supply chain, process improvement, merchandising, procurement, QA, packaging and produce sales. Eric will play a pivotal role in building strategic goals with our retail and food service partners.”

Algoma Orchards is one of the