SunFed® Announces Upcoming Retirement of Craig Slate; Matt Mandel to Transition to President and Chief Executive Officer

RIO RICO, AZ - Nothing happens around here by accident. This is how Matt Mandel begins our conversation as we look at the near horizon for the SunFed® family. Embedded in the high desert of southern Arizona near Nogales, SunFed serves its customers with a passion for providing Perfect Produce: the highest quality fruits and vegetables, produced by some of the world’s finest growers. As a company steeped in long-term vision and innovative thought, it only made sense that the upcoming retirement of the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Craig Slate, would be addressed with the care and precision so characteristic of SunFed.

“With a change this big, we knew we needed to have some serious internal conversation before we ever started the process. I’m obviously not new to this industry or company. Still, having worked intimately in nearly every capacity within the business, the role of CEO requires a completely different skill set to oversee them all simultaneously,” Matt Mandel, current Vice President of Finance and Legal, shares with me as he prepares to step into SunFed’s President and CEO roles. He tells me more about the transition ahead, the team's strength, and what the future holds. "The key to this transition comes down to maintaining our company’s values and being open to different approaches, all in service of our collective end game: Perfect Produce.”

Matt will assume the role of President and CEO beginning November 1, 2025. During this period, Craig will step back to serve as Co-CEO and Senior Advisor until his official retirement in July 2026, ensuring a seamless handoff.

The SunFed family has long been a part of my own personal journey in fresh produce. I remember our trips down to the beautiful microclimates in Mexico with the team, learning about the supply chain, growing efforts, and the heart of protected agriculture—all plentiful within the country.

When Craig joined SunFed in early 2015, he assumed what already felt like a natural fit and friendship with a crew that shared similar values, commitment, and dedication. Craig stepped into the role of CEO in 2017 as the company's Co-founder, Danny Mandel, stepped into his own retirement—a seamless transition in itself.

“Reflecting on my time here, I cannot overstate how meaningful it has been to be part of SunFed,” Craig shares. “This company has provided countless opportunities, and the privilege of working alongside such dedicated team members has been the highlight of my career. I am especially grateful for my partnership with Matt, which I hope continues well into the future. Although we are announcing this transition now, please be assured that I remain fully committed to SunFed until my last day. I will continue pushing forward to help this organization thrive and to support Matt in leading SunFed into its next chapter.”

With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Craig has amassed an impressive chapter of experience, spanning his time with Chiquita Brands and IFCO Systems to his current role at SunFed. For Craig, part of this incredible time has been the partnership he has built with Matt and the team.

“Craig and I have been partners for years, which makes these conversations easier, but it also requires a level of openness and vulnerability to recognize the areas where I need to improve. Anyone who knows the two of us knows we are very different people, and yet we often arrive at the same conclusion from different angles,” Matt reflects. “It goes back to our mantra: Perfect Produce. Never settling allows us to continue pushing the envelope for not only what is achievable but also how we ultimately achieve it. Over the past couple of years, we’ve been innovating and upgrading our internal processes to deliver a better end product to our customers. Whether that is the use of AI to enhance our growing and operations, better analyze data to model and predict outcomes, or working hand in hand with our customers to offer new and exciting products, both from our core portfolio as well as looking to new offerings, we continue to bring value to our entire supply chain.”

As Matt steps into the CEO seat, it is not only a professional milestone but also a personal one, given his family’s legacy at SunFed. So, I ask Matt, what does it mean for him to carry that torch forward?

“My dad was legendary in his own way in the innovations and perspective he brought not only to SunFed, but to the industry as a whole,” Matt tells me. “Those are obviously huge shoes to fill. That said, the company has grown significantly, and the industry continues to evolve since my dad’s retirement. We continue to see new challenges, which present new opportunities for both ourselves, our growers, and the industry. Perfect Produce is a mantra embedded in the fabric of the company, and it’s an ethos that goes beyond the product.”

Perfect Produce means never settling for simply getting the job done, but taking a step back and examining the processes with a critical eye, asking, “Can this be done better?”

“Whether it is how we interact with our amazing grower base, how we approach our customer relationships, or interact with our internal teams, we always strive to be better than good enough,” Matt continues. “Perfection is unachievable, but the pursuit of perfection allows us to go from the acceptable to the exceptional. Danny Mandel’s fingerprints are still all over this company, and I hope that we can continue to preserve that legacy and use it as a foundation for even greater things down the road.

For buyers and retailers who’ve built relationships with SunFed under Craig’s leadership, they can expect business to remain the same.

“Relationships absolutely matter in this industry, and we’d both be lying if we didn’t recognize the charisma Craig brings to every conversation he’s involved in. That said, customers come to SunFed first and foremost for Perfect Produce,” Matt details. “We want to be every customer’s first choice for not only the best product in the market, but also top-notch customer service and accurate and timely information. The better we manage our relationships, the better our customers can service their customers as well.”

It has been one heck of a ride for the SunFed team. Looking ahead, the road forward looks just as exciting.

“We’ve rolled out some fun product lines over the last couple of years, and there will be expansion on those lines and a few new introductions. Not to be a tease but stay tuned!” Matt concludes.

You can always trust Matt to end a conversation on an intriguing note. However, all of us who know Matt, Craig, and the SunFed team are aware that the conversation is far from over.

Congrats, Craig, on the amazing ride so far, and for what comes next. Matt, watching you step into this next role is an honor to witness.