JESSUP, MD - As part of its continued commitment to growth, sustainability, and excellence, Pete Pappas & Sons has kicked off 2025 with a series of strategic hires and promotions designed to enhance operations, strengthen customer relationships, and ensure ongoing success.

Don Martin has been promoted from Vice President of Sales to Chief Growth Officer (CGO), a move that highlights the company's focus on driving strategic expansion. In his new role, Don will leverage his extensive experience in the produce industry to accelerate growth initiatives across sales, organics, sustainable packaging, and more.

Lamont Edwards, a key member of the Pete Pappas & Sons team for over 25 years, has transitioned to the role of Tomato Category Manager. With his deep knowledge of production operations, particularly in tomatoes, Lamont will focus on growing the tomato category by enhancing sourcing, sales, and product offerings, while ensuring that both incoming and outgoing products meet customer quality standards.

Jay Carven, the company’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), brings decades of financial expertise in the food industry to his new role. As a press release explained, his leadership will focus on performance and profit enhancement, driving continued financial growth while leading the company’s finance and accounting team.

Brian Jenny, who joins the company as the new Vice President of Sales and Procurement, brings over 25 years of experience across various produce categories. His leadership will strengthen the company’s procurement, sales, and branding strategies, further enhancing Pete Pappas & Sons' reputation for customer-focused service.

LOS ANGELES, CA - The Wonderful Company has announced it is committing $10 million to fire relief efforts in the Los Angeles area. Immediate donations will focus on providing real-time support to first responders, both firefighters and police, with donations expanding over time to broader relief efforts. The company also announced it would double all L.A. fire-related donations made by its 10,000 global employees, either through the company’s employee-directed giving program or personal donations.

“We are profoundly grateful to all of the frontline firefighters and police officers who are working around the clock to protect our communities, even as many of their own families evacuate and homes are threatened,” said Lynda and Stewart Resnick, the company’s Owners. “These heroes are putting themselves in harm’s way to protect all of us, and The Wonderful Company will have their back. Los Angeles is The Wonderful Company’s home, and it is our personal home, the place where we met, were married, raised our family, and built our business. The city and region mean everything to us. We will be here for our community and our employees through this crisis and well beyond as this great city rebuilds.”

The specific initial commitments announced today include $1 million to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and $500,000 to the Los Angeles Police Foundation. The remaining commitment will be identified and disbursed as the relief efforts in Los Angeles continue.

“On behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to The Wonderful Company for their extraordinary generosity in donating $500,000 to the Los Angeles Police Foundation,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. “This substantial contribution reflects their commitment to the safety and well-being of our community and is a morale boost for our officers who work tirelessly to protect the city we all love.”

“Los Angeles firefighters are deeply touched by the outpouring of support from across the community, including now this generous gift from The Wonderful Company,” said Liz Lin, President of the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. “These urgently needed resources will improve dispatch capabilities, purchase additional specialty firefighting equipment, enhance our rapid response vehicles, and help make sure all our firefighters have the equipment they need, from hydration packs and fire shelters to PPE. We are so grateful for this support when it is needed most.”

The Wonderful Company, known for its healthy consumer food brands, has also been donating FIJI Water, Wonderful Pistachios, and Wonderful Halos to fire stations, police precincts, first responder staging areas, and air operations centers to help ensure emergency workers have ready access to nutrition and hydration.

Like many businesses in the area, the devastation has hit home for the company, which is providing extensive support to dozens of its Los Angeles employees who have lost their homes or been displaced by mandatory evacuations.

The company has also shared with employees that it will double employee giving to Los Angeles relief efforts. Through its Wonderful Giving Program, the company gives each of its 10,000 global employees up to $1,000 a year to donate to the charity of their choice, and the company also matches its employees’ individual private charitable donations. Over the past 20 years, the program—centered on empowering employees to give within their communities, where they know best what support is needed—has given more than $72 million to local charities around the world.

OXNARD, CA - Janis “Jan” Berk, former Partner-Owner of San Miguel Produce, Inc. (SMP) and a recognized agriculture industry leader and advocate, has retired as Chief Operating Officer of the Central Coast fresh produce grower and distributor after more than 20 years with the company. Together with her husband, SMP Founder and former President/CEO Roy Nishimori, Berk has been instrumental in building SMP into a national leader and innovator in the fresh-cut, specialty vegetable market.

SMP was acquired by Grimmway Farms in July 2024, and Berk has served as an active member of the integration team while continuing to lend her expertise to product innovation and expanding business opportunities across the SMP portfolio, including its signature Cut ‘N Clean Greens value-added product line.

“Jan is a transformative industry leader who has helped build a highly successful global business while always supporting her local community,” commented Jeff Huckaby, President and CEO of Grimmway Produce Group. “Jan and Roy’s expertise in responsible farming practices, their commitment to their employees, and their keen eye for innovative product development and marketing has made San Miguel a standout in the leafy greens category. All of us at Grimmway are deeply appreciative of the family’s legacy and Jan and Roy’s support throughout the transition process to become part of the Grimmway family of brands.”

After a distinguished career as a marketing and media executive with the Los Angeles Times and LA News Group, Berk joined the family-owned business full-time in 2002. Initially focused on SMP sales, marketing, and branding, she was named Chief Operating Officer in 2006. Known for her deep, personal passion for the farming industry, she has been instrumental in furthering SMP’s commitment to providing career opportunities for all employees and advocating on behalf of Ventura County growers at both the state and federal levels, a press release explained.

Berk was previously chair of the International Fresh Produce Association’s (IFPA) Fresh-Cut Board and served as chair of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA). She is a long-time member of the Ventura County Farm Bureau and a former member of Farm Credit West’s Local Advisory Committee. She was named the IFPA Women in Produce Honoree in 2019.

“It has been a pleasure to work alongside the Grimmway team in ensuring that SMP will continue be an industry leader and innovator,” Berk said. “This operation, our employees, and the ag community in Ventura County and beyond have given us so much. As Roy and I officially step into retirement, we are both excited to watch SMP continue to grow and thrive as part of Grimmway Farms.”

Congratulations to this industry icon on an incredibly successful career!