The Grower-Shipper Association of Central California recently appointed Victor Ramirez of NorCal Harvesting as its new vice chair and Greg Beach of Steinbeck Country Produce as its secretary.
Beach has spent his entire produce career with Steinbeck and is currently vice president of sales. He was appointed to the board this year. Ramirez is a third-generation strawberry farmer and grew up working alongside his parents and six siblings, during which he gained a deep-rooted understanding and respect for the life of farm workers, according to a news release.
“We welcome the new board members and we know the organization will benefit from their insights and perspectives as we work to achieve our mission, which is to advance families, food and farming in our region,” Christopher Valadez, president of the Grower-Shipper Association, said in the release.
Valadez said Ramirez served on the board during a very challenging time. His knowledge was an integral part of the board leadership.
The association also thanked the following board members whose terms have concluded, Rod Braga of Braga Fresh, Pat Collins with Naturipe, Tom Nunes with The Nunes Co. and Allan Clark of Merrill Farms.
“The work and time they have given to [the association] through staff transitions, food safety challenges and the pandemic was formative and helped us evolve, grow and advance our mission. I want to personally express my thanks to each of them,” Valadez said in the release.
In addition, Chad Amaral, vice president at D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of California; Kristina Nunes, food safety and sustainability director at The Nunes Co.; and John Wilkinson, co-founder of Blazer Wilkinson LP were appointed to the association’s board of directors.
