RIO RICO, AZ – SunFed is announcing the promotions of three of its own as the Rio Rico, Arizona-based company continues to ramp up its strategic growth initiatives in 2016. Brett Burdsal has been promoted to Vice President of Marketing, Craig Slate has been promoted to the role of Vice President of Sales and Mark Cassius has been promoted to Executive Vice President and General Manager
Burdsal, who previously held the role as Director of Marketing, will be working on a series of combined efforts from driving the connection between the retailer, foodservice partner, and consumer, to marketing and elevating the Perfect Produce® brand, its messaging, and the company’s innovations.
“This is a great transition for me as we continue to build the Perfect Produce® Brand, increase market share, expand our national presence, and improve retail penetration,” Burdsal says. “I will not only be working on how the company markets our message, but how and where the company grows.”
Slate, who joined the company in early 2015 as Director/GM Texas Division, will now be spearheading the company’s efforts to expand its program into year-round availability as SunFed opens its operations in South Texas and refines it strategies at the team’s Nogales, Arizona headquarters. Slate will also be managing all North American sales responsibilities and focusing on key relationships with retail, foodservice and wholesale partners.
“Our company will see many changes this year and in my new position I will be working to bring premium product to our retail partners with increased efficiency and less travel time through our expansion in South Texas,” Slates says. “Texas will complement our Nogales operations to improve access to major cities in the Eastern half of the U.S., as well as Canada and beyond for our Mexican grown produce.”
As Burdsal and Slate settle into their new positions and expanded responsibilities, Mark Cassius, EVP & GM, will be able to broaden his focus from sales, marketing and new product development concentrate to encompass more operational, core business, and administrative responsibilities.
“As we continue to evolve the company, I will work closely with Danny Mandel to maintain and elevate our tradition of superior quality and flavor innovation that he
has envisioned for SunFed,” Cassius says. ‘This is an exciting time and as we grow our leadership team, there will be more to come from SunFed and our Grower partners.”
About SunFed
Headquartered in the high desert of southern Arizona near Nogales, we are a fresh produce company with a passion for providing the highest quality fruits and vegetables, produced by the world’s finest growers. This passion and our commitment to developing FRESH INNOVATIONS have earned us a reputation for providing fruits and vegetables with extended freshness and consistent flavors, textures and colors. We are proud to be an industry leader in food safety, which is a culture ingrained throughout our company and backed up by technology, packaging and processes. We employ a team of food safety specialists who have set the highest standards in the fresh produce industry and then administer internal audits to ensure that we’re meeting or exceeding them.
Source: SunFed
