—by Jim Morris, Pear Bureau Northwest
As pear harvest begins throughout the Northwest, new management at Pear Bureau Northwest is stepping as much as serve the trade.
The board of administrators appointed CarrieAnn Arias as president and CEO, and he or she took over the duties of the function on July 1, following the departure of Kevin Moffitt, who held the place since 2001.
CarrieAnn Arias
A 20-year agriculture trade veteran, Arias has served as vice chairman of promoting at Naturipe Farms and vice chairman of promoting at Dole Meals Co. She can be the founding father of TableSpark, a enterprise and expertise consulting agency. In 2022, Arias was chairman of the board of Produce for Higher Well being (now a part of the Worldwide Recent Produce Affiliation), and he or she helped to develop the group’s Have a Plant motion that superior the trade’s collective dedication to total fruit and vegetable consumption.
Arias brings a real ardour for agriculture and for connecting customers to their meals.
“Naturipe Farms is a farmer-owned group and the biggest grower of blueberries globally. I actually discovered my stride and a ardour working immediately for the 450-plus growers there,” she mentioned.
She was particularly compelled to pursue the chance to hitch PBNW as a option to work carefully with the growers. “That is the right time to convey my expertise collectively for a single trade whereas additionally attending to work carefully with the devoted individuals who produce our meals,” she mentioned.
Fueling her ardour, Arias is dedicated to fostering a tradition of innovation and collaboration whereas persevering with to construct on the group’s sturdy basis and drive its mission of selling pears within the U.S. and all over the world.
“I want to create a stronger connection to the farm and information customers via the data litter on the market. At the moment’s customers actually wish to perceive the place our meals comes from, and I wish to take it a step additional and humanize its origins,” she mentioned. “We should make the connection that meals sustainability begins with monetary viability on the farm. Our home meals provide should be secured, and it begins with recognizing that farmers and their households’ capacity to develop our scrumptious and nutritious meals depends on the costs which might be within the grocery retailer.”
With Arias’ arrival, the duties of supervisor of the Recent Pear Committee of Federal Advertising Order 927 have transferred to Jeff Correa, additionally the PBNW’s worldwide advertising director.
Jeff Correa
Beforehand a task additionally held by Moffitt, the supervisor of the Recent Pear Committee performs a pivotal function administering the rules, grower assessments for analysis and promotions, and the gathering and dissemination of pear stock figures all through the season. Correa may also handle ongoing communication with the U.S. Division of Agriculture on the regional workplace in Portland, Oregon, in addition to in Washington, D.C.
In July, Correa attended america Agricultural Export Growth Council (USAEDC) convention in D.C., the place he additionally met workers from the USDA Agricultural Advertising Service (AMS). An early order of enterprise will likely be to work with AMS on the 2024 crop to find out the wants for any potential faculty lunch program purchases.
“I’m excited to have the ability to serve the trade in a brand new capability because the supervisor of the Recent Pear Committee in addition to persevering with my work because the worldwide advertising director for the pear bureau,” Correa mentioned.
“Looking forward to this yr’s crop, our growers are dealing with headwinds that haven’t been skilled in a long time,” he mentioned. “We’re going to need to be extraordinarily devoted to defending our shelf area and cementing {our relationships} with each retailers and customers within the coming season.”
On the export aspect, a lot will rely upon the final word measurement of this season’s crop, so far as what the manifest will appear to be by way of sizes and grades and the place these alternatives will likely be for the export markets.
“I anticipate Mexico, Canada and Central America will stay the main focus of the export program for the trade, with some restricted alternatives for offshore exports for Pink Anjou pears,” Correa mentioned. “PBNW’s technique will likely be to focus its advertising efforts on the above-mentioned top-three export markets and keep a small presence within the different USA Pear export markets with our in-country advertising representatives who will likely be on the prepared to advertise when and if export volumes arrive into the markets.” •
Jim Morris is the communications supervisor for Pear Bureau Northwest, which collectively markets pears underneath the USA Pears model. E-mail him at: jmorris@usapears.com.
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