SANTA PAULA, CA - To promote the success and achievement of an individual is one of a company’s greatest acts of trust. Calavo Growers seems to have unquestionable faith in Ron Araiza, as the produce vet was recently promoted to be the new Executive Vice President of Calavo Fresh Foods.
In his new role, Araiza will be responsible for leading the Renaissance Food Group (RFG) and Calavo Foods business segments, a press release stated. He will focus his leadership insights on aligning the RFG and Calavo Foods sales teams, all while building synergies between the two divisions to leverage relationships and streamline processes.
Araiza assumed his new role on August 4, 2021. He formerly served as Vice President of Sales and Production for Calavo Foods.
Jim Gibson, Chief Executive Officer, discussed how this exciting promotion is set to spur growth across Calavo’s operations.
“As we continue to build out our One Company vision, we are excited to have the RFG and Calavo Foods teams work together to further optimize business opportunities,” stated Gibson. “With over 30 years in the produce and food industry, I have no doubt Ron will do a great job leading our sales teams and help usher in a new and exciting era for Calavo.”
In addition to this promotion, the company has made another executive-level shift on its sales team.
RFG veteran Kate Brooks, who previously served as Vice President of Sales, has been promoted as the new Senior Vice President of Retail Sales. In this role, she will oversee all retail sales for the company.
Ed Redd, who joined the team at the same time as Brooks in 2020, will continue to serve as Senior Vice President of the Emerging Channels Division, focusing on building out foodservice business as well as convenience store and military channel sales opportunities for RFG. Brooks and Redd will both report into Araiza and help to drive future sales success for Calavo.
Congratulations to all of these distinguished sales leaders as they continue to strengthen Calavo’s long-term growth strategy.
