Bruce McEvoy will be recognised with the United Fresh Produce Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
McEvoy’s career in the fresh produce business began with the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service in Europe and Thailand, before he was assigned to the US Embassy in London where he focused on export expansion.
He went on to join Sunkist where he led its European subsidiary and established license programmes for juices and soft drinks in the Middle East and a beverage plant in Sicily, Italy. McEvoy also managed the California Citrus Quality Council in Europe.
Returning to the US in 1984, McEvoy managed Sunkist’s sales and marketing for the products division and the global use of the Sunkist trademark, with Asian markets developing into a priority.
In 1989, McEvoy moved to DuPont’s biotech division to help commercialise innovative products from two new companies – Fresh World Farms and Intermountain Canola – before joining Seald Sweet International in 1994 as the company’s president. He successfully helped Seald Sweet transform from a regional Florida citrus cooperative into a global produce company. Bruce retired as company president in 2004, but still serves Seald Sweet and its parent company Greenyard as a government relations consultant.
McEvoy served on the United Fresh board for seven years and was chairman during the 1999/2000 transition year. During his five decades in the fresh produce industry, he has received numerous accolades, including the Special Achievement Award for Produce Export Expansion from the Secretary of Agriculture and a Special Achievement Award from the Foreign Agricultural Service for his work developing the concept of an agriculture trade office in major export markets.
“Bruce’s career has been pivotal in advancing the produce industry on a global scale,” said Tony Freytag, chairman of United Fresh’s board of directors. “From his early work at the USDepartment of Agriculture in international trade to his career spanning some of the most iconic companies in the produce industry, Bruce has been instrumental in driving growth for our industry.”
McEvoy will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 Produce Legends Dinner, being held in New Orleans in January. He will join a distinguished group of past winners, including Rick and Tonya Antle, Mike Cavallero and Reggie Griffin.
