CHICAGO – Hazel Technologies, Inc., a USDA-supported company, welcomes fresh produce industry veteran, Mario Cervantes, to its team as the new business development and sales manager at Hazel Technologies. To support the company’s fast-growing partnerships, Hazel welcomes seven new members – including Cervantes – to its team of passionate people who share a commitment to post-harvest research.
Cervantes comes to Hazel Technologies following more than a decade of experience as an innovator in the fresh produce industry, most recently as a Regional Sales Executive with Compac, leader in high-speed packinghouse technology. Prior to Compac, Cervantes founded and managed a commercial vegetable farm, Tlalli Organics, in Guanajuato, Mexico and worked for Spectrum Technologies, an agriculture instrument company. Additionally, Cervantes is completing his Masters of Agribusiness from Kansas State University.
“After working for over a decade on the cutting edge of fresh produce packing as both a grower and technology provider, I was excited to see the powerful impact Hazel's products are already having on the fresh industry globally,” said Mario Cervantes, Business Development and Sales Manager of Hazel Technologies. “With Hazel's traction across the Americas in several different fresh categories and funding support from key organizations such as the United States Department of Agriculture and Western Growers Association, I could not pass up this unique opportunity.”
Derick Jiwan, Ph.D., Senior Technical Lead, comes to Hazel Technologies following more than 15 years of experience focusing on the research and development side of commercial agriculture. Most recently, Jiwan spent five years as a genetics researcher at the United States Department of Agriculture and had the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with growers to develop new crop varieties.
Additionally, Hazel Technologies welcomes the following new team members:
- Laura Blaser, MBA, Operations Lead
- Ken Kurita, Sales and Operations Analyst
- Shriya Subedy, Post-Harvest Scientist
- Emily Moy, Production Scientist
- Nick Moore, Production Scientist
Each team member varies with experience in agriculture, supply chain logistics, business and research, but all are passionate about reducing waste in the fresh produce industry. As the Hazel team grows, the company has expanded its headquarters in Chicago by nearly two-and-a-half times its original size to accommodate the growth in innovation and people.
“All of us at Hazel Technologies are very pleased with the new team additions and facility expansion,” said Aidan Mouat, CEO and Co-Founder of Hazel Technologies. “Our support from the United States Department of Agriculture and Western Growers Association have played a crucial role in our ability to increase our company resources, reduce food waste in the fresh produce industry, and improve the customer eating experience.”
Additionally, the upgraded facility features a new state-of-the-art post-harvest produce lab, brand new refrigeration rooms and modified atmosphere capabilities. This lab will be used to provide best-in-class technical support for Hazel’s customers, which include some of the largest growers, packers, and shippers of fresh produce in the world.
For more information on Hazel Technologies, please visit https://www.hazeltechnologies.com/ or email Pat Flynn atpat@hazeltechnologies.com.
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About Hazel Technologies, Inc.
Hazel Technologies Inc. is a USDA-supported company based in Chicago, IL. Hazel Technologies helps growers, packers, and shippers of produce extend the shelf-life of their fruits and vegetables, which reduces produce rejections, can extend seasonal availability, and expand geographic markets. Hazel Technologies develops products in the form of packaging inserts that slow ripening of produce due to ethylene and use a blend of essential oils to reduce to inhibit microbial growth. For more information, please visit www.hazeltechnologies.com.
Source: Hazel Technologies, Inc.
