On the last day of 2020, Price Mabry was enjoying a few days off before starting his new job on the first Monday of the new year as produce director of HAC, Inc., an 80-store grocery chain that consists of eight banners with stores located in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Georgia.

At 33 years old, Mabry will be one of the younger, if not the youngest, produce director of a chain that size in the United States. He is extremely excited about the job and the opportunity to prove himself at the highest produce level, but he admits to higher aspirations.

“I have big dreams,” he said. “I have higher

James Hideo Iwamoto, a long time Los Angeles produce wholesaler, died on Dec. 5, after a short battle with COVID-19. He was 68.

Mr. Iwamoto was the son of Jimmie Iwamoto, a longtime produce buyer for the Vons supermarket chain when it was independent, and the father of Jimmy Iwamoto, who has also spent his career on the wholesale produce market, currently working for Valley Fruit & Produce Co.

The younger Iwamoto said his father retired from the daily grind of the wholesale produce business several years ago after spending more than 40 years in the business with a handful of companies

Greenyard USA/Seald Sweet kicked off 2021 welcoming Amy Gates as vice president. Gates has been in the produce business for over 21 years and initially will focus on implementing a new ERP and WMS computer systems (given her IT experience) and then will be very active in all facets of the business going forward.

Gates’ vast experience in the produce industry started at Famous Software (for five years) after graduating from college in California. Afterward, she joined the team at Frontera Produce for 16 years, beginning in operations and advanced to being the president and senior executive

Markon, whose reputation is built upon its dedication to food safety, hired Kate Burr as its new food-safety director.

In her new role, Burr will use her proficiency of field and processing practices, product recall expertise, and sustainability knowledge to enhance Markon’s food-safety initiatives. She will be responsible for compliance with Markon’s 5-Star Food Safety Program standards throughout Markon’s supply chain; ensure all Markon First Crop, Ready-Set-Serve, and Markon Essentials products meet or exceed its stringent food-safety standards; and serve as the voice of Markon for all

The Allen Lund Co. announced the promotion of Keith Curtis to the position of IT director; Jill Smith will take over his former role of manager of integrations. In this role, Curtis will take on the direct oversight of systems, integrations and desktop support groups. He will continue to work closely with the company's IT teams.

“I am proud of Keith’s hard work and dedication for Allen Lund company. Keith has done a remarkable job in leading our EDI team from a one-person show to some of the smartest engineers in the country," said Chetan Tandon, CIO of ALC. “EDI-setup turnaround time has

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas hired Andrea Ortega as its communications coordinator.

Ortega, a local native to the area, graduated from the University of Arizona and has a strong background in marketing, communications, event coordination, import/export knowledge and project management from her work in various organizations including the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Peace of Mind Events, Grupo GOCM, Tubac Golf Resort & Spa, and the Tubac Chamber of Commerce where she completed one of her last roles as executive director.
 
Additionally, Ortega is involved with various