The Oppenheimer Group has appointed company veteran James Milne to the newly-created position of business development director, according to a press release from the Vancouver-based group.
“Mr Milne’s leadership experience within the organisation spans apples, pears, citrus, avocados and greenhouse vegetables, as well as a five year stint as director of marketing,” said Dawn Gray, Oppenheimer’s senior vice-president of marketing and categories. “As such, he has the depth and breadth of expertise that will enable him to step readily into this strategic role.
“With his varied product background and market knowledge gained over a decade and a half at Oppenheimer, not to mention marketing expertise acquired representing growers in New Zealand before he joined us, Mr Milne is uniquely qualified for the business development director position,” Ms Gray added.
In the new role, which he began in late August, Mr Milne will guide the company’s nine-member business development team as it drives sales through high-impact promotional strategies for each of Oppenheimer’s product categories.
“My primary focus will be to support the team as we approach each of our accounts with effective promotion, packaging, and product solutions,” he explained.
“The business development group’s mandate is to help our customers succeed with our products, therefore contributing in a positive way to the grower return on the other side of the transaction. While assuring the tools and information are available to help them achieve that, I’ll also be here to help develop and underwrite the go-to-market strategy.”
Simultaneously, Mr Milne will continue as the director of Oppenheimer’s avocado and citrus categories, cultivating the marketer’s citrus business into a robust year-round supply, and concentrating on strategic growth in avocados.
He was appointed to the citrus role in 2006, adding avocados in 2010. James also served as director of Oppenheimer’s greenhouse category from 2006 to 2009, director of marketing from 2001 to 2006, and apple and pear category director from 1996 to 2001.
