Andrew Dewsnup, who served as president of Greenfield Fresh, the San Francisco Bay area produce brokerage he founded in 2002, died at the age of 60.

“He had recently been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and was anticipating 100 percent recovery, so we are all are mourning this untimely loss,” said Royce Greenfield, sales manager for Greenfield Fresh. “Andrew’s passing is a reminder to all of us to take time to enjoy each and every day, and always appreciate those who enrich us, and make our lives meaningful.”

Mr. Dewsnup had worked in the produce industry for more than three decades

The Southeast Produce Council held its first STEP-UPP Virtual Classroom within the SEPC Virtual Garden on Wednesday, April 28. STEP-UPP, which is an acronym for Southeast Training Education Program for Upcoming Produce Professionals, is SEPC’s flagship program giving retail and foodservice produce professionals a greater understanding of the industry through an emphasis on strategic orientation, personal leadership and hands-on field experience. 

The session included a welcome by STEP-UPP Committee Co-Chairs Mike Roberts of Harps Food Stores and Gary Baker of Merchants Distributors, followed

Valerie Shepler has joined Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Inc., as commercial manager for the United States and Canada, where she is responsible for establishing and developing strong relationships with the company’s blueberry nursery and genetics customers, overseeing the implementation and administration of new plant preview and genetics licensing programs, and managing the customer service, sales, and grower support team. Based in the company’s Lowell, Ore. office, she reports to Scott Cully, regional director for the U.S. and Canada, and Jason Wolcott, commercial director for Fall Creek

Brighter Bites, a Houston, TX-based nonprofit that delivers fresh fruits, vegetables and nutrition education resources directly into students and families' hands, hired Amy Priebe as its new sourcing manager.

Priebe joins Brighter Bites with years of produce sourcing experience, most recently working at Imperfect Foods as the produce merchandising and category manager. In her new role, Priebe will work closely with produce suppliers and distributors from across the country to ensure Brighter Bites families receive the most nutritious fresh food available.

"I am looking forward to growing

Masiar Tayebi has joined SpartanNash as the company's executive vice president and chief strategy officer. Tayebi has more than 20 years of experience connecting strategy, technology and innovation to drive growth and transformational change.

Prior to joining SpartanNash, Tayebi was global head of corporate strategy and business development at Whirlpool Corp., as well as chief operating officer of its most recent acquisition, Yummly, a leading digital food platform offering online grocery delivery to millions of users. Before joining Whirlpool, Tayebi spent 15 years in financial services and

iTradeNetwork, a global provider of supply chain management solutions for the food and beverage industry, announced Rick Haggart as its new chief technology officer.

Haggart comes to iTradeNetwork with more than 20 years of experience in executive and entrepreneurial roles in emerging technologies. Prior to joining iTradeNetwork, he worked for Boeing, Accenture, PerfectPlaces.com, RedAwning and Virtana. Haggart is charged with building upon iTradeNetwork’s successful solutions and customer base to help dramatically improve efficiency, certainty and safety in the food supply chain.

“I’m