VALENCIA, CA – Some things just get better with age. Proving this is Sunkist Growers’ 124th annual meeting, held on February 1st, which summarized the organization’s strong performance in 2017. It also seated the 26-member Board of Directors for this coming year.
“Careful and well-orchestrated management of last year’s crops, along with coordinated sales and marketing strategies, allowed us to achieve steady movement and strong pricing in 2017,” said President & CEO Russell Hanlin, according to a recent press release. “Last season’s performance resulted in record member payments of nearly $1.2 billion dollars, the highest in our history.”
The organization is looking to take on key strategic initiatives so as to preserve its industry leadership and competitive returns to grower members. Management for Sunkist and Fruit Growers Supply (FGS) have also been consolidated, improving fiscal performance and the service to both organizations’ constituencies.
“Sunkist’s board and management continues to proactively evaluate opportunities to maximize efficiencies within the organization,” said re-elected Chairman for Sunkist’s Board of Directors Gerald Denni. “The management consolidation of Sunkist and FGS underway has been positive, and we are very optimistic about the synergistic benefits that this shared services model will afford both companies moving forward.”
The organization is primed for success with the additional supporting revenue streams stemming from its for-profit business’s great 2017 performance.
“We have tremendous optimism for the future of the Sunkist cooperative,” said Denni. “We have made many positive organizational changes, and also gained significant acreage last year that will further establish Sunkist as the leader in the fresh citrus industry.”
With the meeting just behind us, how will the newly seated, and some newly re-seated, Board of Directors push the organization’s success even further this coming quasquicentennial year? AndNowUKnow looks forward to finding out!
