Ft Worth, TX — Jay Alley, Vice President of Sales for MegaMex Foods™, the home of the Wholly Guacamole brand, announced his retirement this month. Alley spent over 40 years in the produce world, the last 16 of which he spent building and growing the Wholly Guacamole brand.
Under Alley’s direction, sales grew consistent double digits over the last 10 years. The brand has grown to $100 million as the retail doors grew to over 15,000 and the products grew into single, family and party portioned products with multiple flavor profiles. Consumer adoption rate grew and was heavily influenced by the sales and marketing strategy of Wholly Guacamole brand.
Alley led the charge to make the packaged avocado and guacamole category exciting at retail. Under his leadership, Wholly Guacamole brought category changing promotions and sponsorships to the produce section, with such partners as Breast Cancer Awareness, New York Yankees™ and Dallas Cowboys™.
Alley participated in many industry boards, including Produce Marketing Association (PMA), United Fresh Produce Association and Viva Fresh. He also developed the first mobile marketing truck in the produce industry. The GuacMobile was a 60-foot trailer that housed two 13ft fiberglass avocados that went cross-country to retailer and consumer events sampling product and educating consumers on the product and health benefits.
“My time with Wholly Guacamole was the best experience of my career”, said Alley. “Watching the category grow as consumers changed and driving it to retail with my amazing team of employees and brokers made it fun to go to work every day”.
Alley is not going to far. He expects to remain active in the produce industry and is currently working on several new projects.
Source: MegaMex Foods™
