The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) in the US has elected a new board of directors at its annual membership meeting on 17 May in Nogales, Arizona.
The meeting concluded with the election of Alejandro Canelos from Apache Produce Imports as chairman of the organisation.
Canelos has served on the FPAA board as the chairman of the FPAA tomato division and has been involved in the produce industry for many years.
Matt Mandel of SunFed was also elected to fill the position of chairman-elect after serving on the board for several years, and has served as a spokesman for the industry at meetings both in Phoenix and Washington DC.
Terry Shannon, Jr. of Shannon Brokerage Co. was also awarded the 2011/12 Fresh Produce Association of the Americas Member of the Year award.
“The annual meeting is so important for us to be able to sit down as a group, discuss issues affecting the industry, and elect representatives to our board,” explained former FPAA chairman Jaime Chamberlain of J-C Distributing.
“Having worked closely with Alejandro Canelos during my time as chairman, I can say that he is going to do fantastic things for this organisation.
“The new chairman-elect, Matt Mandel, will bring a great amount of energy to this board, and I look forward to seeing all of the good things they are going to do for this industry.”
A slate of FPAA board directors was also elected by the membership, comprising eight distributor directors and two associate directors.
Jose Luis Obregon of IPR Fresh, Christian Reyna of Divine Flavor, and Rod Sbragia of Tricar Sales were newly elected to the board for a two-year term.
Meanwhile, the following members were re-elected to a two-year term: Bobby Astengo of Prime Time International; Robert Bennen, Jr. of Ta-De Distributing; Martin Ley of Del Campo Supreme; Bert Monteverde of H.M. Distributors; and Leonardo Tarriba of Farmer’s Best International.
Sabrina Hallman of Sierra Seed Company and Chuck Thomas of Thomas Produce were also re-elected for a one-year term as associate member directors.
FPAA president Lance Jungmeyer said the produce community can expect more and more involvement from FPAA in the political realm, and in trying to cut down red tape to get produce across the border from Mexico into the US.
“Alejandro Canelos and Matt Mandel will build upon the efforts to influence federal and state regulators and lawmakers that took form under Jaime Chamberlain’s leadership,” Jungmeyer explained.
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