Vonnie Estes has maintained one common thread in her varied career: innovation in agriculture, specifically the crops we eat.
Estes, vice president of innovation for International Fresh Produce Association, shares in this ZAG Tech-partnered episode of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast all about her career trajectory that led to her position today.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in horticulture at New Mexico State University, Estes received her master’s degree in plant pathology at University of California at Berkeley.
“I was just really excited to see how could use technology to produce food more sustainably and in a more interesting way,” Estes said in the podcast episode. “That’s been the through-line in all the different jobs I’ve had. The main point is how can we grow food for better nutrition and a better planet.”
Estes also dives into the Fresh Field Catalyst Accelerator program she started at IFPA, how companies can apply and what the benefits are.
Related: ‘Tip of the Iceberg’ podcast: Meet PMG’s 2023 Produce Retailer of the Year
She started this program because this produce industry can be hard for outsiders to enter and understand. It’s “opaque,” she said.
“A lot of new technologies are not coming into the produce industry because it looked too complicated, and any funder or venture capitalist would say ‘don’t go there.’ They’d go to corn and soy,” Estes said. “What can I do to bridge that gap?”
She wants to give these innovators better market access to the produce industry.
To find resources mentioned in this episode:
- Vonnie Estes on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vonnieestes/
- International Fresh Produce Association: freshproduce.com
- ZAG Technical Services: zagtech.com
To find us:
- Our websites: producemarketguide.com, thepacker.com and ProduceEDU.com.
- Email: news@thepacker.com and artists@producemarketguide.com
- LinkedIn: PMG: Produce Market Guide and The Packer
- Instagram: @packernews and @producemktguide
- Facebook: @ProduceMktGuide and @PackerNews
- Twitter: @produceretailer and @thepacker
