Uesugi Farms Hires New Talent, Prepares For Company Expansion

Gilroy, CA — Gilroy-based Uesugi Farms is proud to announce four new hires that have the company poised for major growth this summer. General Manager Pete Aiello welcomed the following employees to the Uesugi family: Johnny Spina Jr., Farm Manager; Joe Martins, Raw Product Procurement Manager; Joe Gularte, Production Supervisor; and Jerritt Barr, Sales Representative.

“We tend to be pretty aggressive about our growth. We’ve taken on more acreage each year,” said Aiello. “Having these folks on board will make it easier to achieve that growth, and also manage the growth wisely.”

Johnny Spina Jr. spent many years managing his family’s operation, Spina Farms. The Spina family has been farming in Santa Clara Valley for several decades, and Johnny grew up in the business. Uesugi Farms recently negotiated a deal to purchase Spina Farms and add Johnny to the company payroll.

He manages all of Uesugi’s growing operations in the Northern California region, which consist of roughly 1,200 acres from Hollister all the way up to South San Jose. Johnny fills a critical need. Previously, the farm manager role was piecemealed between Pete, his dad and a handful of other Uesugi Farms managers.

“We were doing it by committee,” said Aiello. “Now we have a true leader for our growing operation. Johnny’s really passionate about growing vegetable crops. He’s excited about the challenge and he’s hit the ground running,” said Aiello.

Joe Martins is out in the field coming up with harvest schedule projections, arranging schedules with growers, selling product, and more. Contract negotiations are also on deck for Martins, who handled and developed product procurement in the Central Valley prior to joining Uesugi Farms.

“This is stuff my dad has done for 40 years,” said Aiello. “That’s a full-time job. My dad was trying to do that and manage the company at the same time, which I helped with, but our company really needs both of us on board at all times, with the flexibility to help where we’re needed on any given day. Joe’s another guy we think really highly of, and he allows my dad to have that flexibility. Not to mention he greatly increases our production management capacity.”

Joe Gularte will run the packing facility at Uesugi’s headquarters. He’ll manage production, maintenance and a 40-person crew. Gularte’s oversight ensures Uesugi Farms’ product is graded, packed and ready for delivery. He previously worked as a forklift mechanic for Toyota and routinely serviced Uesugi Farms’ forklift fleet.

“This packing line has a lot of moving parts. Joe has the mechanical wherewithal to run it. There are a lot of nuances about the product he’s going to have to learn, but that’s the easy part. We can train him for that. The mechanical details are the hard part, and Joe’s got a lot of experience with a wrench,” said Aiello.

Barr buffs up Uesugi Farms’ fresh market sales team. Barr has more than 20 years in the produce industry, most recently working for the Harold Crawford Company.

“With a legitimate year-round operation, we just needed to bolster our sales staff, to keep up with the volume and year-round production and give our other sales reps some time to breathe. That’s how Jerritt is contributing to our operation,” said Aiello.

The new hires put Uesugi Farms in position to continue their expansion in full stride.

“The new guys will increase our capacity, our flexibility, and our efficiency. They’re going to make our operations stronger and give us the ability to handle increases in acreage and volume. It’s a good move for us,” said Aiello.

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About Uesugi Farms
Family-owned Uesugi Farms has been in operation for more than seven decades. The company relies on its vast experience, wealth of farming knowledge and commitment to quality to deliver impeccable product. The multi-regional operation is spread over 5,000 acres in California, Arizona and Mexico. They annually grow, pack and ship approximately 210,000 tons of bell peppers, chili peppers, napa cabbage, corn, pumpkins, strawberries and beans.

Source: Uesugi Farms