2022 Packer 25 — Dante Galeazzi
The 2022 Packer 25 is our annual tribute to 25 leaders, innovators and agents of change across the fresh produce supply chain. Each year, The Packer invites the produce industry to nominate distinguished veterans, leaders and rising stars of the fresh produce industry. As always, our editorial team was energized and awed by the talented pool of nominees this year. Now in its 18th year, The Packer is once again spotlighting 25 dynamic and inspiring people who are moving the produce industry forward.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Dante Galeazzi, president of the Texas International Produce Association
How did you get your start in the produce industry?
Galeazzi: My family was in produce and ran a farming operation that grew onions, cherries, watermelons, sugar beets, grapes and almonds. The summer I was 13 years old, my grandfather started taking me to work in the fields. My first job was counting the onion sacks in the rows making something like $5 an hour. I worked every summer at the farm until I went to college.
Just before I graduated college, I started doing interviews for future jobs. I had a few interviews, and one in particular was a pretty bad experience. It was an operations role for a fairly large produce company. The interviewer came in 20 minutes late with a Dr. Pepper and Ranch Cornnuts dressed like he woke up late that morning. He had not looked at my resume and was far more interested in his snacks and what was happening outside the window than what I had to say.
Thankfully, my next interview was very different. In fact, it went so well that I had an offer from them in my email before I even got home from that interview. Turns out, I would go to work for an international logistics company in their perishable transportation division. It was a tough job, but I learned so much so quickly. And from there, my career in produce took off. I would work for large corporations and small family farms. I worked for growers, shippers, importers and got to experience a wide variety of roles beyond just my sales title.
How would you describe your current role?
My title is president, but I think my current role is a little bit of everything. Operations, sales, marketing, accounting, negotiations, it goes on. Frankly, that’s a bit of what I have loved in working for small organizations is the diversity of job roles and tasks that come my way. For me, it makes the day an adventure of facing a new challenge and finding a solution. And in this current role, I get the adventure of facing those challenges in an international setting too, so that keeps things really interesting.
What do you hope to accomplish/contribute through that role?
I hope to truly and honestly help the members of the industry. Whether that’s a regulatory issue, the development of a custom food safety best practices protocol, or simply representing the fresh produce industry in larger conversations like state infrastructure plans.
The thing I like best about what I do is... Representing fresh produce. I’m working for a commodity that makes people healthy and for an industry of people who work hard to bring these foods to consumers across the world.
What does leadership mean to you?
For me, leadership means setting an example. I feel that people respond better as equals, and I have tried hard in my role to work alongside the team rather than to direct alone. I have also learned that fighting for your team is an important part of being a leader. We ask our people to work hard in a tough industry, and that should be mean rewarding them for success. Since many workers are not in a position to reward themselves, it falls on leaders to see to it that organizations appropriately compensate and care for their team.
Who are people who have been mentors to you in your career?
I try to learn from those around me, and I have been blessed to work alongside many great people over the years. I could go on and on about the various mentors I’ve had in this career, and that’s probably part of the reason I love this industry so much. Mike Martin, Will Steele, John McClung, Matt McInerny and Laurie Stern are but a few of the many guides I have had.
Two folks who have left a big impact: Gary York, my first boss in the produce world and Bret Erickson. Gary knows more about transportation and sports than anyone, and he loves to share the knowledge of both. He helped me cultivate many of my skills.
It was a big step to transition from a sales, day-to-day produce operation into an association leadership role. Bret’s faith, guidance and support were huge in preparing me but also in giving me the confidence I needed to undertake the challenges of managing TIPA.
An industry issue that I think about often is... Labor. It is the issue I hear about most often from the members. The lack of labor for agriculture has been well documented for the last 100 years in the U.S., yet very little progress has been made in finding a long-term solution. The issue gets caught in the immigration debate. The good news is there are more folks in congress and the senate now who care about it and are willing to act.
