SALINAS, Ca. – Employee owned Tanimura & Antle, one of the largest grower shippers in the Salinas Valley, announced today the promotion of Brett Champlin to Senior Director of Harvest Operations. In his new role, Champlin will oversee the day-to-day harvest operations for all the Company’s crops.
“We have an extremely talented team of crop and industry experts in our harvest department and I attribute my knowledge and success to the mentorship they have provided me with since I started at Tanimura & Antle,” said Champlin. “I look forward to continuing to work together to deliver premium fresh produce to our valued customers.”
Like many other integral Tanimura & Antle employees, Champlin started his career at Tanimura & Antle as an intern. Champlin was first challenged with creating a program to collect and track data for plant health, size and growth. Today, what started as an internship project is known as the Company’s Advanced Forecasting Program, and is a prime example of the Company’s commitment to innovation. The Advanced Forecasting Program serves as a vital liaison between harvest, sales and production to assist with accurately forecasting product yields and anticipates any quality issues early on. After his internship, Champlin was hired full time in 2014 as the Advanced Forecasting Manager where he managed a team of Advanced Forecasters to track crop growth progress and utilize the data to improve future plantings.
“I have worked with Brett for the length of his career at Tanimura & Antle and we identified him as a key employee in our succession planning early-on. Tanimura & Antle has a long-standing legacy of caring for its people and promoting talent from within, and Brett is a prime example of that culture,” said Nick Sgheiza, Vice President of Harvest. “Brett’s hard work, dedication and contributions over the past several years are an essential part of our collective success.”
In 2015, Champlin was promoted to Lettuce Harvest Manager and then in 2017, Lettuce Harvest Director, where he was responsible for managing harvest operations for one of the Company’s largest products, Iceberg Lettuce. The Company’s iceberg lettuce program includes 12 harvest crews and 450 employees. Diversifying his responsibilities, Champlin spearheaded the product development of the Company’s Artisan Baby Iceberg program in 2018.
“We have an amazing team across the company that continues to impress me on both their abilities and willingness to lead,” said Scott Grabau, President & CEO of Tanimura & Antle. “We truly have a world-class operation that starts with our employees. Brett is a great example of why we continue to succeed in a challenging industry.”
Champlin attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture Business and currently is pursuing a Masters from the Marshal School of Business at University of Southern California.
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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.
