Richard Hoddy and family of Vailima Orchards were presented with the Grower of the Year award during the International Fruit Tree Associations annual study tour and conference in New Zealand. Emigrating from England in 1914, Richard’s grandfather established orchards in Nelson, New Zealand. Honoring his grandfather’s legacy, Richard continues to grow with his two sons … Continued
Ivonne is originally from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico where she graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in 2014 with an agricultural sciences degree with a major in agriculture technology. She went on to work at Sygenta Seeds in the irrigation-plant nutrition department for two seasons in which she gained experience in fertigation, irrigation and soil … Continued
Ryan grew up in Worcester, MA and worked as a cook while in high school and through college. He moved to Florida to attend the University of Tampa where he received a business degree; loving the southeastern heat so much, he decided to stay. With Oppy since 2014 in the Tampa, FL office, Ryan is … Continued
Christina grew up in Southern California and has lived in Diamond Bar, CA the past decade. After taking an accounting course in high school she knew she was going to pursue it as a career and went on to receive a bachelor’s degree. In the produce industry for over 10 years, Christina began her career … Continued
Joe was born in Pennsylvania and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. Starting his career in produce at Chiquita and Del Monte, 17 years ago Joe was hired at Oppy. Joe attributes Oppy to being the most dynamic, diversified and technically advanced of the three companies and values its strong company culture. Working closely with commodity managers, … Continued
One of the industry’s most progressive greenhouse growers has named a new chief executive. SunSelect Produce, Inc. appointed Len Krahn to its top leadership role late last week. Krahn, who has held various positions at SunSelect since 1993, most recently served as chief operating officer and vice president of sales. “We’re intent on driving operational … Continued
Annette was born, raised and currently lives in San Pedro, California. She attended El Camino College and Los Angeles Harbor College before dipping her toes in a range of positions at Vons, Albertsons, Olive Garden and Nordstrom. 18 years ago, Annette was hired at Oppy. A regular work day for Annette is tracking all West … Continued
Dmitry was born in Udmurt Republic, Russia and came to Ontario, Canada in 2007. Moving to Calgary, AB to work as a construction estimator and account representative, he was hired at Oppy almost three years ago and moved to our Vancouver office. A typical day for Dmitry is slotting new orders in the system, creating … Continued
A few short months into his career at Oppy, the new Carson-based IT Tech Michael Pascual has already proven his expect the world from us chops. He traveled to Visalia to add a workstation and assist with a full-fledged equipment rearrangement that was underway in advance of Barbara’s retirement at the end of September. While … Continued
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, our four intrepid Houston office colleagues worked from home, coffee shops and elsewhere to keep business at Oppy running as usual. Kudos to Jeff, Joe, Chris and Leslie for stepping up and delivering as best you could in the face of unprecedented adversity. To help others in the community … Continued
Cassandra was born and raised in Lompoc, California before moving to Santa Maria just four years ago when she started her career in produce. She joined Rincon Fresh, California’s largest family-owned berry farm, starting in compliance, then working her way up to the sales team. When Rincon Fresh entered a joint venture with Oppy in … Continued
Jose Mendoza, Jim Leach and Mario Illiano are Oppy’s new sales representatives, recently appointed from within the leading fresh produce marketer and distributor’s ranks. Mendoza and Leach are based in the company’s Los Angeles-area office, while Illiano is part of the Seattle, Wash. sales team. All three will focus on developing and sustaining sales of … Continued
Helen was born and raised in Victoria, BC before she moved to the mainland to get a sociology degree from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She spent her early years as a server between semesters and took a year off between high school and university to work at Lake Louise for a ski … Continued
Mitchell was born and raised in Truro, Nova Scotia and moved to Calgary, Alberta in 2007. His produce experience began at Superstore (Loblaw’s) where he worked for three years as a produce clerk and produce supervisor. He went on to work in warehouse at SCM, which handles all of Walmart’s goods, for two years and … Continued
Next month, Chris Ford and Karin Gardner will pedal nearly 200 miles of hilly terrain of California’s Central Coast in the Tour de Fresh, a three-day industry cycling event that raises funds to place salad bars in schools. While their focus is on helping students develop healthy eating habits with access to more fresh fruits … Continued
Bob Riedel grew up in a small river town called Bristol, Pennsylvania and went on to graduate from Bucks County Community College in 1974. He worked for Conrail for five years before becoming a maritime cargo inspector and later a traffic manager at Frupac, now Chiquita. In February 1993 Bob was hired at Oppy and … Continued
After nearly 26 years at Oppy, the IT department’s most long-standing member is turning her attention from the inner-workings of Optimo to the excitement of the Great Outdoors. Linda Soer retired on April 21, with plans for a 6-week camping trip throughout British Columbia this summer and an open mind to any adventures that lie … Continued
Rosa is from Santiago, Chile where she attended Santiago’s Central University to obtain an accounting degree while also working full time. She earned a CPA (Contador Publico Auditor) designation, and more recently, two specialization programs on tax and IFRS at the University of Santiago. Early in her career, Rosa worked in outsourcing firms TMF and … Continued
Kyla was born and raised in BC, Canada – noting she can’t imagine living anywhere else in the world! Finishing high school six months early, Kyla was eager to enter the work force and experience life. She worked at a battery factory for eight years which was her first taste of operations and inventory control … Continued
On International Women’s Day, Hispano City Calgary named five important Latino women in the Calgary community who personify qualities that make them pillars of the Hispanic community. Part-time Oppy repacker, Ana Martin del Campo, won first place in the Albertan Latin award contest in 2016 and is proud to be recognized for this designation now. … Continued
Late last year Oppy was honored by Waterstone Human Captial as one of Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures in the program’s enterprise category. Along with this designation Oppy was challenged to create a 45-second video culture snapshot of our organization with sci-fi as the genre. With help from Mellenger Interactive Ltd, the Vancouver office … Continued
Oppy’s organics category gets a boost from an expert this week, with veteran Chris Ford joining the leading fresh produce sales, marketing and distribution company as organics category manager. Ford comes to Oppy with more than two decades of fresh produce and organics expertise gained in buying and management roles with such retailers as Whole … Continued
Armando grew up in Indonesia and came to Canada in 2000 where he graduated with a Bachelor of Computer Information Systems from the University of the Fraser Valley. He worked as a software developer for Whitewater West which designs and engineers all of the waterslides for Disney cruises around the world. His work in custom … Continued
Louis was born in New Westminster, BC — as he likes to call it, the “City of Champions.” He attended Simon Fraser University to receive a Bachelor of Arts in history and went on to British Columbia Institute of Technology for their accounting program. Louis worked at a mill and in construction before his first … Continued
Did you know that Oppy has 17 offices across North America? Each year when the holidays roll around our offices have their own way of giving back to their local community. Here are a few of the charities they have supported this season. The Chino Hills office collected over 80 toys for the Christmas drive … Continued
Throughout each year Oppy commits to raising funds for the BC Women’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. With events and initiatives along the way, the Vancouver office looks most forward to charity week each November. The week started off with a delicious breakfast from the Hunger Management food truck compliments of Oppy. Followed by events … Continued
Andrea grew up and currently lives in Santiago, Chile where she studied foreign trade and became a bilingual secretary. She worked as an import assistant at Watt’s Alimentos, a packaged food products producer and marketer. Her experience there led to Oppy hiring her over 13 years ago. From Oppy’s Santiago office, Andrea coordinates with growers, … Continued
Sales Representative Maryam Ahoo joined the Oppenheimer Group in late October, strengthening the full service marketing and distribution company’s presence in Western Canada. Ahoo comes to Oppy’s Alberta location with varied sales and marketing experience, including her prior role as a membership development representative with Farmers of North America, an agri-business trade association based in … Continued
Barbara celebrated 30 years in the Accounting and Finance department at Oppy this year with a trip of a lifetime. Barbara and husband Jim took a European river cruise down the Danube, travelling to Budapest, Vienna, Nuremberg and Prague. A much deserved trip—thank you Barbara for all that you have done at Oppy for three … Continued
Eddie Colon grew up in Los Angeles, California where he attended El Camino College and received a certificate from UC Davis in Fruit Ripening and Ethylene Management in 2008. Between that time Eddie worked at FedEx, as a forklift driver and in sales for a fruit market company – this experience led him to be … Continued