CEO of Arizona produce supplier receives industry honor

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) has selected the CEO of an Arizona-based produce grower and distributor as its 2025 member of the year.

Gonzalo Avila has led the family-owned supplier of fresh produce including eggplants, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, summer squash and green beans since 2013. His career with the company began in 2002 in sales.

“The FPAA Member of the Year Award is not simply a recognition — it is a reflection of the values we hold dear: integrity, service, and progress,” FPAA president Lance Jungmeyer said during a Nov. 4 awards presentation. “It is awarded to those who make both an immediate and lasting impact on our association and the fresh produce industry at large.”

Under Avila’s leadership, Malena Produce has evolved from its early reputation as an eggplant specialist into a diversified industry presence with more than 20 product lines. Headquartered in Nogales, Arizona, the company has expanded into South Texas and international markets such as Japan and China since its 1954 founding.

Avila has serving on the FPAA board of directors and executive committee, including a term as FPAA chair. He has also served on the grower-shipper board of the United Fresh Produce Association, and he was named Exporter of the Year by Produce Business magazine in 2014.

“Gonzalo leads with integrity. He listens. He builds,” Jungmeyer said. “He has an ability to sit in a meeting that might be intense, not take anything personally, and offer thoughtful, on-point insight with calm and clarity. That is true leadership.”

Founded in 1944 in Nogales, FPAA represents more than 100 North American companies involved in marketing, importing and distributing fresh produce.