Food and beverage veteran joins Fresh Del Monte Produce board

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. has appointed a food and beverage industry veteran to its board of directors. Ajai Puri serves as a Britannia Industries board member and spent more than 20 years with Minute Maid.

Puri has held board member roles at several publicly traded and privately held companies in the food, beverage, and agricultural industries, according to a news release. Currently an active board member at Britannia Industries Ltd. (India), India’s largest independent food company, he has also served on the boards of Olam Group Ltd. (Singapore), a leading global food and agriculture business, and IMI plc (UK), a specialist engineering and technology group.

Puri is also a board member at privately held Califia Farms LP, a leading plant-based milks company. His career includes more than 20 years at Minute Maid, part of The Coca-Cola Co., where he helped build the company’s global juice platform with products such as Simply Orange and Minute Maid Pulpy, according to the release.

Puri’s appointment to the Fresh Del Monte board is effective Feb. 19.

“Dr. Puri has an extensive background in the food and beverage industry and years of global R&D, innovation, supply chain development, and consumer marketing experience,” Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, Fresh Del Monte CEO and chair, said in the release. “We are excited to welcome him as part of our team and believe he will bring beneficial insights to our company as we continue to push innovation forward.”

Puri holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India; a master’s from the Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysore, India; an MBA from the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College; and a Ph.D. in food science from the University of Maryland.