Braga Fresh executive named Grower-Shipper Foundation Ag Woman of the Year

Colby Pereira, chief operating officer of conventional and organic vegetable grower Braga Fresh, has been named the Grower-Shipper Foundation Ag Woman of the Year.

The  award honors women in the agricultural industry in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties in California.

Ag Against Hunger, a program of the Grower-Shipper Foundation, honored Pereira at its annual recognition luncheon on April 19.

Pereira is active in several professional and community organizations, including the Salinas Valley Chapter of California Women for Agriculture, the Monterey County Farm Bureau and the Grower Shipper Association of Central California.

She participates on the Food Safety, Land Use & Water Use committees for the Monterey County Farm Bureau and Grower Shipper Association and the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement technical committee. She serves on the California Leafy Greens research board, the Salinas Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency and the Mission Union School District board of trustees.

Pereira attributes her passion for agriculture to her grandfather, Anthony Costa, a pioneer in the Salinas valley.

“What you invest in your community, you get back tenfold,” she said at the luncheon.

Pereira holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business with a minor in crop science from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.  She is a native of Soledad, California, home of Braga Fresh and Josie’s Organics.