Given the mission of increasing the ability of the fresh produce and floral industries to use advances in technology, Vonnie Estes will join Produce Marketing Association as vice president of technology.
“As technology continues to influence all aspects of the produce and floral supply chains, it made sense to add an expert of Vonnie’s caliber to our team to provide deeper value to PMA members and industry,” PMA CEO Cathy Burns said in a news release. “Her expertise and insights will help our global community better understand how to leverage current and emerging technologies to grow their businesses, and ultimately grow a healthier world.” Estes, who begins Oct. 1, will help PMA members to gain greater awareness and understanding of emerging science and technologies, according to the release, particularly science and tech related to labor, food safety and sustainability.
Estes joins PMA’s Science & Technology team, led by chief science and technology officer Bob Whitaker, has known Estes since they worked together at DNA Plant Technologies early in her career.
Estes, an independent business consultant since 2015, has experience with agricultural biotechnology including CRISPR Cas9 plant breeding, to artificial intelligence, Big Data, indoor agriculture, precision ag, biofuels, and bio-based chemicals and products, according to the release. In addition, the release said she has experience and expertise in business strategy, government and public affairs, marketing, business development and finance. She previously had technology leadership at DuPont, Monsanto and Syngenta, according to the release. Estes most recently was vice president of business development for Caribou Biosciences, a biotechnology company specializing in CRISPR Cas9 genome engineering, according to the release.
“Most of my career I have been working in specific technologies and trying to commercialize them so that they’re of benefit to growers,” she said Sept. 27.
Estes said the industry is experiencing a “glut” of technology relating to artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, gene editing and more. She said PMA can serve a role helping the industry navigate the options.
“I really see that PMA has a huge role in that and that I can really help kind of guide that technology into application.”
Whitaker said Estes has accumulated a vast set of resources related to technology over the course of her career.
“Our members can leverage (that) as we look at various problems that they’re having,” he said.
