Two new United councils to debut at trade show

Two new United Fresh councils will convene for the first time at United Fresh 2013 in San Diego, May 14-16.

The Produce Marketing and Merchandising Council, led by its chairman, Roger Pepperl of Stemilt Growers, is made up of more than 30 fresh produce marketing leaders. The council will work to develop United programs that drive value in consumer marketing, branding, social media, point-of-sale strategies, retail partnership programs, and other merchandising components.

With an overall goal to better understand and serve the end consumer who chooses fresh produce at retail stores or restaurants, the new council will bring together marketing and merchandising experts from all segments of the industry to address priority issues and enhance the sales and profitability of the industry.

The Finance and Business Management Council, chaired by Scot Danner of Liberty Fruit, will work to provide member companies with a vetted source for information, benchmarking data, and programs to assist them in running their business operations. The council will focus on a range of business issues impacting companies such as financial and strategic planning, family business and estate transfer, financing and investment, human resources issues such as insurance and health care, and other critical business functions.

“These two new councils will broaden the produce industry’s resource base in marketing and business matters, aspects that can be key determinants of a company’s success,” said United Fresh CEO Tom Stenzel. “The expertise represented by United’s volunteer leaders is unrivalled, and we are looking forward to working with them to strengthen the entire industry and develop programs and services to serve our members needs.”