Malena Produce Brings In Industry Veteran As VP Sales

Nogale – A former Vice President/Sales at River Ranch Foods has been tapped to lead Malena Produce Inc.’s expanding executive sales team. Peter Hayes directed commodity and private-label programs for this major Salinas-based grower/shipper, and now joins the Malena team at their sales offices in Rio Rico, AZ.

Prior to River Ranch Foods, Hayes was director of new business development and sales manager for Newstar Fresh Foods, and previously held various sales management positions at Dole Food Company for over 26 years. In his new position at Malena, Hayes will lead the company’s expanding commodity and value-added programs and supervise all sales and marketing activities.

“We are very excited to have Peter lead and help grow our sales organization,” says Avila, “He brings superior business development expertise as well as unique service strengths that will help our customers build their business.”

Malena Produce, a leading Mexico produce distributor since the 1950s, was named Exporter of the Year by the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. The company launched aggressive expansion plans in 2013, increasing total volume and now handling more than 20+ items. Last month, the company launched its first partnership with vegetable growers in Georgia, with plans to further expand both domestic and Mexico production during 2014-15.

Malena Produce, Inc, was founded by Greek immigrants (J. Stamos) to Mexico in the 1950s. Its proprietary Mediterranean-style eggplant production process led to the premium fruit the company is most known for: Malena Brand eggplant. As the largest supplier of eggplant to North America today, Malena Produce continues its expansion as a thirdgeneration, family-run agribusiness, with operations throughout Northwestern Mexico and Arizona. In addition to eggplant and peppers, Malena currently ships squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles and chilis. During spring, they supply grapes and melons. They have recently launched a summer vegetable program from GA. The company was recently named Exporter of the Year by the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) and Phoenix Media. For more information visit: http://malenaproduce.org.

Source: Malena Produce