SALINAS, CA – Lorri A. Koster, chairman, CEO and a primary shareholder of Mann Packing Company; a grower, shipper, processor of fresh vegetables headquartered in California’s Salinas Valley received the 2014 Ag Leader of the Year award on Thursday, May 8, at the Tenth Annual Valley of the World Awards presented by The National Steinbeck Center.
The Ag Leader Award honors an individual whose work has broken new ground and/or who has added significantly to the industry while making a difference in the community in which they live.
Koster was raised in the agricultural industry and is the third generation in her family to work in produce. She started her full time career at Mann in 1990. Today Mann Packing Company is certified as a women’s business enterprise through the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nation’s largest third party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the United States. The company is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
Koster participates on numerous committees for the Produce Marketing Association, the United Fresh Produce Association, Western Growers and the Grower Shipper Association of Central California. She was a member of both the board and executive committee of the Produce for Better Health Foundation. She is also a past board member of PMA’s Foundation for Industry Talent and remains active in its fundraising efforts via the Joe Nucci Memorial Golf Tournament.
In 2000, Koster was president of the board of directors of the International Fresh Cut Produce Association, being the first woman to chair an American produce trade association. She is a past chairman of the Grower Shipper Association of Central California where she became the second woman to hold the position and represented the first father-daughter and third generation chairmanship as her father was at the helm of the association in 1983 and her great uncle, Art Sbrana, in 1936.
In 2005 Koster was named one of the industry’s top 40 produce professionals under the age of 40 by Produce Business magazine. In 2009 she was asked to keynote and was given an award of excellence at the United Fresh Produce Association’s Women in Produce event. In 2011 she was named one of the industry’s “Top 25” by trade publication The Packer magazine. Progressive Grocer magazine named her one of the Top 100 Women in Grocery in 2011 and in 2013 she was named Produce Marketer of the Year by The Packer magazine.
Currently Koster serves as a board alternate for the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement and on the board and nutrition council of the United Fresh Produce Association.
Koster is a graduate of Leadership Salinas Valley and was named Outstanding Young Farmer by the Salinas Jaycees in 1994 and Outstanding Young Citizen in 2005. In 2006 she was named an Outstanding Young Californian by the California Junior Chamber of Commerce and Ag Woman of the Year by Salinas-based non-profit Ag Against Hunger. She is a trustee at the Panetta Institute for Public Policy and serves on the board of Monterey County’s Hospice Foundation. She is also a member of the Business Advisory Council for Rancho Cielo Youth Campus which helps troubled teens.
Koster holds a bachelor of arts degree from California State University, Chico. A sports enthusiast and “Forty Niner Faithful” she lives in Salinas with her husband and their two boys.
For more information about Mann Packing, visit www.veggiesmadeeasy.com.
(Image caption: Pictured L to R: Susan Gill, event chairperson, National Steinbeck Center, Rio Farms; Sandra Silva, National Steinbeck Center Development and Membership Manager; and Lorri Koster, chairman, CEO, Mann Packing Company)
About Mann Packing Company
Mann Packing is located in Salinas, Calif., in the heart of America’s ‘salad bowl.’ Mann’s carries the distinguished certification by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)—the most widely recognized and respected certification in the United States for women's business enterprises.
An industry leading, third-generation supplier of premium fresh vegetables—including commodity products and fresh veg mixes, dishes and salads—Mann is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2014.
Staying on the cutting edge of package and product innovation has made Mann’s a regarded consumer brand; being vigilant on food safety practices and compliancy regulations has made them a trusted brand among retailers and consumers alike. Solid relationships with its grower partners ensure Mann’s ability to continually offer the freshest, most wholesome vegetable products in the market.
Source: Mann Packing Company
