During the annual meeting of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, the association’s president, Lance Jungmeyer, presented the FPAA Member of the Year Award to Matt Mandel from SunFed. The Member of the Year is nominated by FPAA members and is defined as someone who goes above and beyond in working for the betterment of the industry and its membership.

Mandel is vice president of finance and legal of SunFed. He attended the University of Arizona, and after a few years, he came into the family business, earned his master's degree at Eller and built his own family roots. FPAA said he

TOMRA Food has appointed Paul Slupecki as senior vice president, head of TOMRA Fresh Food. This follows the reorganization of TOMRA Food into two business areas, TOMRA Fresh Food and TOMRA Processed Food. 

Slupecki was previously TOMRA Fresh Food’s vice president, head of global sales. Slupecki has been instrumental in developing TOMRA’s Fresh Food activities since joining the company in 2019, leading direct commercial market access in Europe and Latin America as well as recently establishing an integrated business partnership with ICOEL, which also designs and manufactures fruit and

Allegiance Retail Services, LLC, announced the passing of Daniel Katz, chairman and CEO of Allegiance Retail Services, LLC. Having served in these positions since 2019, Mr. Katz led the cooperative through critical transformational periods and was instrumental in solidifying strategic supply agreements. Mr. Katz was also, along with his brother Noah, co-president of PSK Operating, LLC, a longtime member of the Allegiance and Foodtown organizations, which owns and operates 13 supermarkets in New York under the Foodtown, Freshtown and Pathmark banners.

“This is a profound loss" said John T

Jim Prevor, founder of Produce Business and CEO of Phoenix Media Network Inc., died from heart failure after being stricken by a heart attack and stroke. He was 61.

Mr. Prevor, a fourth-generation produce industry veteran, founded Produce Business in 1985, just a couple years after his education at Cornell University, according to Phoenix Media Network.

In 2010, he launched the New York Produce Show & Conference in partnership with the Eastern Produce Council. Subsequently he created the London Produce Show and the Amsterdam Produce Show.

"His passion for this industry and advocacy in all

Church Bros. is expanding its team with the hire of Kyle Narciso as its product manager to support its growing value-added product lines for foodservice and retail.

Narciso has seven years of experience in the fresh produce industry having worked for companies such as Mann Packing and Ippolito in product management and sales roles.

Narciso’s role at Church Bros. will be to support the value-added business by interfacing with the production scheduling teams, overseeing inventories, and maintaining communication with the sales team. Between its foodservice and retail product lines, Church Bros

Tamara Pattison has joined The Save Mart Cos. as senior vice president, chief digital officer. This newly created position will further enhance the organization’s opportunities for emerging digital technologies and e-commerce strategies, enabling future growth.

“Ongoing digital transformation to serve our shoppers and fulfill their needs with innovative and affordable solutions continues to be at the forefront of our strategic objectives,” said Shane Sampson, executive chairman of the board, The Save Mart Cos. “With over 20 years of extensive industry experience building and leading diverse