Nogales, AZ — Malena Produce, Inc.’s CEO, Gonzalo Avila was named “Exporter of the Year” during the Americas Trades Produce Conference in Arizona March 12th. Jointly sponsored by Nogales-based Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) and the Texas International Produce Association, the event’s annual awards program honors the member who best exemplifies industry excellence.
The award was sponsored and presented by Phoenix Media’s Vice President Ken Whitacre, publisher of Produce Business, Perishable News and five other food publications. In his presentation speech, Whitacre characterized the recipient as “Highly-respected, hard-working, well-spoken…with an ability to see both the big and small picture.”
The award introduction included the story of Avila’s rise in the produce industry, beginning with a sales role in his Greek family’s agribusiness in 2002 after a stint in banking in Mexico and California. Since then, Avila has spearheaded Malena Produce’s growth from a Culiacan, Mexico eggplant grower/shipper to the #1 eggplant supplier in North America. Their heritage “Malena Brand” is widely recognized by receivers as the highest-quality eggplant.
Over the past decade Avila has also expanded Malena Produce beyond eggplant into a 20+-SKU, integrated grower/shipper with over ten packing operations and thousands of workers serving customers in North America, Japan and China. He was promoted to CEO earlier this year in recognition of his leadership.
The company’s stated mission is “To be an international model for socially-responsible and sustainable produce operations, while offering premium quality to our customers.” Avila’s brother, Basilio, and sister, Yianna, also work at Malena Produce.
An active industry participant, Avila is currently on United Fresh’s Grower-Shipper Board and has served on the FPAA’s Executive Committee for over five years. He was also acknowledged by Whitacre as an avid tennis player, enjoying sports-related family activities during his free time.
Avila, who admitted he was completely taken by surprise by the award, commented: “Our company is celebrating 60 years as a grower and 30 as a shipper this year, so we feel especially honored by and grateful for this award tonight.” Previous Exporter Award recipients have included Martin Ley, Cesar Compana and Dan Edelmeier.
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. Malena Produce continues its expansion as a third-generation, family-run agribusiness, with operations throughout Northwestern Mexico and Arizona. In addition to eggplant and peppers, Malena currently handles squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles and chilis. During spring, they supply grapes and melons. For more information visit: http://malenaproduce.org.
Source: Malena Produce, Inc.
