Western Growers announced the results of the 2023-24 Western Growers board of directors elections. In addition, during the 96th Western Growers Annual Meeting, agricultural icon John Harris will receive the Award of Honor, and David Zanze, president of Pinnacle Claims Management, will be recognized in advance of his retirement.

The Western Growers Annual Meeting is being held Nov. 2-5, 2022 at The Venetian Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas and brings growers, shippers and processors together with allies and suppliers in the fresh produce industry.

The 2022 event will celebrate agricultural icon

In preparation for this year’s apple season, FirstFruits Farms made it a priority to further develop its internal talent as well as onboard additional team members to strategically improve the business and growth in the commodity. Lon Hudson has been named sales director, and the company’s expansion has brought several new faces into the mix.

Among the company's new members are Justin Bos, senior sales account manager; Andy Zhu, post-harvest manager; and Melissa Hunter, data analyst. In addition to the sales director position, more internal promotion has taken place in prominent roles such as

Calavo Growers Inc. has hired Tommy Padilla as its senior director of international sales.   

“I am thrilled to welcome Tommy Padilla as senior director of international sales," said Danny Dumas, senior vice president and general manager of Calavo’s grown division. "Tommy has more than 12 years of experience in establishing and transforming international sales and sourcing teams, and we are looking forward to continuing to build Calavo’s international presence under his leadership."

“With Tommy’s help we are well positioned to support our international customers and expand (or broaden) our

Víctor Moller Schiavetti, the president and founder of Hortifrut S.A., died Oct. 19 at the age of 79.

The International Blueberry Organization said Mr. Moller’s contribution to the development of the global berry industry is immense. In 1983 he founded Hortifrut, which has become one of the world’s largest berry grower-marketers and has played a vital role in paving the way for exports from Chile to global markets. Over the course of his long and distinguished career, he received widespread recognition for his vision, care for the company’s employees and ability to innovate and build long

Tanimura & Antle promoted Scott Rossi to vice president of northern farming operations.  In this newly developed role, Rossi will oversee farming operations in the Salinas Valley and San Joaquin Valley growing regions for the company, working to improve farm efficiencies, yields and product quality.   

“It’s been a humbling experience to be able to work side by side with some of the greatest farmers in the Salinas Valley throughout my career.  My passion for agriculture started early on with my family’s small farming operation and I’m grateful to be able to expand on that passion today with

Church Brothers Farms is expanding its regional sales team as the company continues to grow its foodservice sales program with the addition of produce veteran Brian Bengard as West Coast foodservice regional manager.

Bengard has more than 25 years of experience in the fresh produce industry having spent time working for companies such as Mann Packing, Nunhems USA and Tanimura & Antle in sales and account management roles. Bengard’s specific role at Church Brothers will be to support current foodservice customers, building new business, work collaboratively with the inside sales team to ensure