SALINAS, Ca. — Employee owned grower shipper of premium fresh produce announced today strategic changes, additions and promotions within their sales team to position themselves for strategic growth. The Company has hired new key sales team members, reorganized existing sales staff and promoted vital sales team members.
Tom Ryan and Rick Dacey have joined the Company’s new dedicated regional sales team as Regional Sales Managers, reporting to Senior Director of Regional Sales, Karen Pflaum. Ryan served as a Regional Sales Manager for Tanimura & Antle previously from 2005 to 2014. For the past few years, Ryan has been representing a number of produce companies independently, such as the Organic Grower Summit, Grower Network and Del Fresco Produce. Dacey served as Director of Eastern Region Sales for Earthbound Farms for nearly 13 years and has since worked for State Garden/Olivia’s Organics, Pero Family Farms and JBS as a regional sales representative.
“As we continue to build upon our customer relationships, we look forward to having additional boots on the ground to ensure our customers have everything they need in order to sell and market our premium fresh produce,” said Karen Pflaum, Senior Director of Regional Sales. “Our team of regional sales people will accentuate our already turnkey sales department.”
The sales department is now organized into regionally focused teams, a national team, and a foodservice team. The Company also shared a series of new hires and promotions within their sales team.
The following sales team members have recently joined the Company:
- Roberto Ornelas as Product Manager, previously from Ippolito International
- Mykayla Latronica as Senior Sales Analyst, recently graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a MS in Food Science
- Valerie Serna as Transportation Planner, previously from Ippolito International
- Thomas Wheelus as Foodservice Sales Manager, previously from Taylor Farms
- Jordan Vosti as VMI Sales Manager, previously from Sysco
The following employees have been promoted from within at Tanimura & Antle:
- Dina Mendiola promoted to Account Manager
- Elizabeth Annis promoted to Export Account Manager
- Diana Garcia promoted to Foodservice Account Manager
- Dominique Ziers promoted to Account Manager
- Aaron Flowers promoted to Sales Coordinator
- Jack Duffy promoted to Sales Coordinator
“Moving back into the Tanimura & Antle office and being tasked with leading the sales team is a great opportunity and challenge that I’ve been enjoying,” said Brian Antle, Executive Vice President of Sales. “It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to work with a talented, knowledgeable group like this and also have the freedom to build out the team as you see fit. The reorganization and promotions within our existing team along with our new hires gives us the ability to better support existing customers and introduce new customers to our families of premium fresh produce.”
Come meet the newest members of the Tanimura & Antle sales team this week at the PMA Foodservice in Monterey, California, at booth #318.
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About Tanimura & Antle
Founded in 1982, Tanimura & Antle is an employee-owned family farming business with a four-generation legacy and a passionate commitment to growing premium quality produce. Built on a partnership between two families, with a shared commitment to always value employees as its greatest asset, the founding families now share ownership with all employees — from farming and harvest crews to management — through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). As one of the largest independent vegetable growers in the United States, Tanimura & Antle farms more than 40,000 acres of rich, fertile farmland and ships a full line of premium fresh conventional and organic produce products throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
