Trinity Fruit Co. has announced the death of Levon Ganajian, its vice president of retail relations and a produce industry veteran of more than 40 years.
Ganajian joined Trinity Fruit in 2015 and helped drive relationships and sales with current retail partners and prospects across all commodities, according to a news release. Trinity Fruit said he was extremely personable and loved talking to everyone and that he was a leader, a mentor and an advocate for everyone he cared about during his time in the produce industry.
Prior to joining Trinity, Ganajian spent more than 25 years in retail with Safeway, including 14 years as Safeway’s senior produce buyer. He also held roles as a national commodity manager and manager of commodities in produce for Safeway. He started his career in the fresh produce industry as a grocery bagger for Ralph’s Market in Los Angeles.
Trinity Fruit said Ganajian was an avid gardner and enjoyed family, friends and life in general. He leaves behind his wife Stacie and children Armand and Gia.
“Our beautiful friendship evolved over 30 years,” Trinity Fruit Co. President David White said in the release. “I cannot put into words what he means to me. I was honored to have the opportunity to work together on our side of the business, a career transition he loved and mastered seamlessly. He was a wonderful husband and a very proud father. He had an incredible work ethic, and he was and is an inspiration to me. I will never be able to master cooking on the Green Egg the way he did, and I pray now that he is in heaven, he will use the time to get some new joke material, as his wife Stacie would so often ask of him. I can’t wait to hear it.”
