Farm Fresh Direct, Monte Vista, Colo., has promoted Lonnie Gillespie to a new position for the company, chief organic officer.
She has been involved in organic sales at the company for five years.
“Over the last several years Lonnie has been a leader and advocate for our organic potato program, working with our team to generate record sales for our customers and increase returns for growers,” Jamey Higham, Farm Fresh Direct’s president and CEO, said in a news release. “In both our private label and branded products, Lonnie has the knowledge and vision to continue to develop organic leadership in the potato category.”
National retail scan data shows that supply shortages have caused organic potato sales to lag recently, Gillespie said.
“One of the challenges for the potato industry has been consistency in the supply of organic potatoes,” she said in the release. “Developing reliable, top quality supplies of organic potatoes has been critical in building trust with our customers to expand retail distribution and leverage consumer demand.”
Farm Fresh Direct is expanding its organic potato line and expects “significant” growth in the next few years, according to the release.
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