Emanuel Lazopoulos has joined Dole Fresh Vegetables, Monterey, Calif., as senior vice president of sales and marketing.
Lazopoulos, who started his produce career at Dole, was most recently senior vice president of North America for Del Monte Fresh Produce NA. He left Del Monte in April 2019 after 16 years with the company, which he joined in 2003 as vice president for North America fresh-cut. He also was senior vice president of sales, marketing and product management for North America at Del Monte.
Lazopoulos has worked at Salyer American Fresh Foods, Banacol Marketing Corp. as vice president of marketing, and Newstar Fresh Foods, where he was managing director.
He was featured in The Packer 25, a list of prominent industry leaders, in 2007. In January, he received the United Fresh Produce Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
“In addition to being such a well-respected individual in the produce industry — having recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award from United Fresh Association — Emanuel’s strong winning attitude and personality will complement and enhance Dole Fresh Vegetables’ abilities to meet the needs of our customers and continue to provide quality, innovative products to the marketplace,” Michael Solomon, president of Dole Fresh Vegetables, said in the release.
“After leaving Dole thirty years ago it is great being back,” said Lazopoulos. “I know I have more to accomplish and am very excited about applying the learnings of my decades of tenure in this industry to help propel an already dynamic organization.”
Lazopoulos has a reputation for creating strategic partnerships and directing acquisitions, integrations and improvement programs, according to the release.
Danny Dumas, who was promoted to senior vice president of sales, marketing and product management at Del Monte Fresh when Lazopoulos left, spoke at the United FreshStart Conference gala honoring his former colleague in Tucson, Ariz.
“His open-door management style, always taking the time to listen, advise, his openness to hearing different points of view and always being open for discussion, made us feel that we were all important in achieving a common goal,” Dumas said at the event.
Related stories:
United Fresh presents Lazopoulos with Lifetime Achievement Award
Del Monte’s Lazopoulos to retire; Dumas to be promoted
Change to meet consumer demands, experts say at United Fresh
