Raylene Veleta heard about Oppy through her previous workplace, a cold storage service that Oppy worked with in Exeter, California. When Amy Bianchi was looking to fill an open position, she connected with Raylene’s manager. Without any hesitation, Raylene was referred for the job. Thankful for her blessings and for her manager’s referral, Raylene’s journey … Continued
Born and raised in sunny Scotland, Tom Stewart has called Richmond, British Columbia home for the last 20 years. Tom attended the Morgan Academy in Dundee, Scotland, which graduated other notable alumni including veteran actor Ian McDiarmid, famous for his role in various Star Wars movies. Prior to moving to Canada, Tom worked as a … Continued
I hope this message finds you and your families safe and well. It’s a message I never would have imagined I’d be writing to you, but one I feel is incredibly important to convey. I’m writing to acknowledge the violent events surrounding us following the tragic death of George Floyd, and share the heaviness of … Continued
Born in Valparaiso, Chile, where he studied agricultural engineering at Duoc UC, Diego Quezada now calls Newark, Delaware home. After completing his bachelor’s, Diego worked in the quality control department of a company that partnered with Oppy. This proved serendipitous, as he worked closely with many of his future coworkers, before switching over and joining … Continued
Originally from Queretaro, Mexico, Adriana has been living in Canada for the last 14 years, east of Okotoks near Calgary, Alberta. An agronomist engineer with a bachelor’s in plant science, she graduated from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education and also holds a Certificate of Specialization in Organic Agriculture from Dalhousie University. Prior … Continued
Originally from West Pennsylvania and now working at Oppy’s Newark office, Bill Poulos graduated with a business administration degree in accounting and a minor in marketing after attending Pennsylvania State University and Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. Oppy was Bill’s first ever job and the only one he has ever had, aside from a few … Continued
Born in Honduras, but leaving after his first few birthdays, David is a self-proclaimed “military brat” who spent most of his life hopping between countries in Central and South America, including Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Ecuador and Brazil to name a few. After getting a bachelor’s from the University of New Orleans in international studies with … Continued
Born and raised in Toronto and now residing in Vaughan, Ontario, Rosemary obtained a bachelor’s in political science from York University as well as a human resource management certificate from Humber College. Rosemary developed an extensive array of professional experiences on a journey that ultimately led her to Oppy. These included working as a human … Continued
Ending an already memorable year on yet another high note, Oppy was recently recognized as the business of the month for December 2019 by the City of Coquitlam! The city launched the business of the month program in May 2019 to recognize the successes of local companies. Mayor Richard Stewart welcomed the 12-strong Oppy team … Continued
Instead of spending a well-deserved day off for Thanksgiving Monday relaxing back in October, Category Financial Analyst & Specialist Sarah Paclaon and Packaging Coordinator Paulina Derry passed the afternoon serving meals to those in need at Union Gospel Mission (UGM) in downtown Vancouver. Both having a fulfilling volunteer experience earlier this year with UGM at … Continued
A world traveler since she was only 4 years old, Bilkis has lived in countries across Africa, Europe and North America before settling in Vancouver, BC almost two decades ago. Born in Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bilkis gained over 20 years of experience in operational accounting while working in Toronto, … Continued
Currently residing just outside the birthplace of the U.S., Chase is Philly-born and raised besides attending Clemson University in South Carolina when he received his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics. Working through various roles in account management, sourcing and category management, he earned his supply chain solutions experience with Robinson Fresh over eight years before … Continued
A workaholic since she was 16, Southern California born and raised resident Ambar held jobs at “SoCal” favorites like Disneyland. A huge animal lover, she worked at an animal health distributor, at a veterinary hospital and at a doggy daycare while she went to Cal Poly Pomona as a pre-vet student. While in university she … Continued
Enhancing his green thumb the past couple years, Category Coordinator for Grapes & Stonefruit Andrew Schallenhammer decided to take on watermelons in 2019. “I got some run-of-the-mill seeds from Home Depot and Lowe’s and planted them in the front yard garden in the middle of May,” Andrew said. He picked up seeds of the Sugar … Continued
Residing a couple hours away from his childhood home, Eric currently lives in Oxford, Pennsylvania. After graduating from the University of Delaware in 2006 with a business management degree in food and agriculture and a minor in food marketing, he transplanted to Florida for a position in marketing at Rosemont Farms then moved back to … Continued
Do you love “Tasty” food videos and recipes? At the height of their popularity a few years ago, Marketing Communications Specialist Kelsey Van Lissum began working with a food content agency to develop recipe video content for Oppy items. As these videos became more frequent and Matt Del Biondi, graphic designer and video expert, joined … Continued
With its eye on business growth and innovation, Oppy announces the promotion of James Milne, Karin Gardner, Brett Libke and Garland Perkins to four newly created positions. “As we continue to grow in the highly demanding and dynamic global fresh produce industry, we’re adapting to new challenges with discipline but also a great deal of … Continued
Before heading to CPMA back in April, the association’s Education Manager Ian Brodie reached out to a few Oppy people to be part of a fun project while at the convention. That project was a video that would showcase the diversity of career opportunities and professional backgrounds in the produce industry. CPMA and its members … Continued
Never straying too far from The Great Lakes as he moved around, Dan was born in Chicago, Illinois and currently lives there now. While attending Harper Junior College he was hired at an importer who happened to work with some of the same growers as Oppy. After going through the Chilean grape scare of 1989, … Continued
Born in Thailand, Mai moved to the United States when she was six years old and currently lives in Visalia, CA. She majored in criminology at California State University but ultimately decided the field was not for her and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. “You can say what I currently do at Oppy … Continued
Participating in the West Coast Cycle for Sight for the sixth time, team Oppy picked up four new riders this year. Our original cyclist, Doug Grant, who holds deep passion for the cause as his wife Sherry has macular degeneration affecting her central vision, couldn’t make it this year because he was out of town. … Continued
Graduating with a degree in agronomy from the Mayor University of Chile, Rodrigo worked in QC at multiple fruit companies throughout his studies, including Oppy grower partner David Del Curto. He was hired at Oppy seven years ago as QC inspector at our Carson office and just two years ago moved to McAllen, Texas to … Continued
Winning the Industry Role Model award for a seventh year, Oppy was represented by Retail Solutions Specialist Garland Perkins at the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) Consumer Connection Conference last month. She accepted the honor and for the first time, received recognition herself as an Excellence Awardee! PBH chose companies and individuals whose support … Continued
Living in Delaware all her life, Joyce hasn’t strayed far from the city of New Castle which she says, is “15-20 minutes from almost anywhere I need to go!” She received a bachelor’s degree in communication management from Wilmington College, now Wilmington University, while working as a part-time receptionist for an auto dealer, moving to … Continued
After graduating from Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico, with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and commerce Rodrigo went on to work in marketing and sales for Colgate-Palmolive, The Coca-Cola Company and Mattel, Inc. and later freelanced for other multinational companies. With a thirst for travelling and desire to start somewhere new, … Continued
When Organics Category Manager Chris Ford popped into the PRO*ACT office last month to present Oppy’s citrus program he didn’t expect to be ‘under the microphone’—but that’s exactly what happened. Bringing in samples of JAZZ apples and SunGold kiwifruit, Chris walked the office after his meeting sharing the tasty treats when Marketing Director Brian Denton … Continued
Big hair, big celebrities, big taste, all in the big city. For the second year in a row the Oppy team attended New York Fashion Week which this time, created even more excitement through a special partnership with Christian Siriano, the innovative young designer of the hit Bravo TV show Project Runway. Senior BDR TJ … Continued
A Pacific Northwest native, Rachel graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts concentrating in sales, marketing and entrepreneurship. After her studies she set off on an epic trip around the world for a year landing in countries such as Fiji, Thailand, Egypt, Spain, Switzerland and Germany just to name a few. … Continued
Growing produce and raising animals on his family farm close to Santiago, Chile, Hugo said it was very easy to pick his career. After pursuing a Bachelor of Science in agricultural engineering, he spent time on cattle farms assisting veterinarians and went on to sell organic fertilizers. In 2005 he took his first step into … Continued
Originally from Chile and now living in Newark, Delaware, Carola received a bachelor’s degree in science with a major in agricultural engineering at the University of La Serena in Chile before moving to the U.S. When she was hired at another company within Manfredi Cold Storage, where Oppy has a repacking and distribution center, she … Continued