Oppenheimer Announces Strategic Realignments

Vancouver, B.C. — In keeping with its evolving business, The Oppenheimer Group has re-aligned several roles to optimize service to its customers and its international grower network.

“We have a great deal of experience and talent among our team members,” said John Anderson, the full-service marketer and distributor’s chairman, president and CEO. “And as our business continues to grow, we are shifting key areas of responsibility to optimize our results and enable us to deliver on the expect the world from us promise of the Oppenheimer brand.”

In March, David Smith became senior vice president, sales and categories. Smith joined Oppenheimer in 1989 and over the last several decades has held roles of increasing responsibility, including, most recently, senior vice president, national sales. Smith now has strategic oversight of all of Oppenheimer’s product categories, from procurement to delivery, in addition to sales.

Another company veteran, Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Doug Grant, has added leadership of the organization’s marketing strategies to the scope of his responsibilities, which also include grower relations, operations, quality control, transportation, food safety, supply chain management and IT. Grant has been with Oppenheimer for 17 years.

Reporting to Grant and reprising the role of director of marketing is James Milne. Milne is also Oppenheimer’s business development director, and he leads the company’s avocado and citrus categories. Milne, who joined the company in 1994, was Oppenheimer’s director of marketing from 2001 to 2006. His background also includes management of the organization’s apple, pear, and greenhouse categories.

In April, the company shifted several category responsibilities. Bill Poulos, whose experience includes 27 years at Oppenheimer, was appointed to the role of director of import grapes, overseeing the procurement and marketing of fruit from Chile, Brazil and Peru. He will also continue in his capacity as sales manager for the company’s Newark, Del. office. Complementing Poulos’ efforts, Marc Serpa has been appointed director of domestic grapes, managing Oppenheimer’s California and Mexican grape programs. Serpa has been with Oppenheimer for eight years.

Apple and pear category director David Nelley is now also responsible for the company’s California and Northwest cherry deals, which include both the Orchard View Farms and Blue Goose labels, and encompasses a forecast of over 1 million boxes this season. Nelley has been with Oppenheimer for nearly a decade and a half, earning a reputation for successful new variety introductions and strategic marketing programs.

In addition to the category changes, Sales Manager Eric Coty has been promoted to director of West Coast sales. In this capacity, Coty will provide sales oversight to the company’s Los Angeles and Visalia, Calif., Houston, Tex., and Nogales, Ariz-based teams.

Source: The Oppenheimer Group