On Jan. 27, Oppy announced the return of director of Canadian sales Steve Young, who rejoined the company on Jan. 5. In this role, Young will lead Oppy’s Canadian sales team with a focus on strategic growth, program expansion and strong alignment across sales, marketing and category teams.
Young brings more than two decades of produce industry experience to the role, including a deep history with Oppy. He first joined the company in 2008 as a sales representative and went on to hold leadership roles as sales manager and later director of sales for Canada before departing in 2018. Most recently, Young served as vice president of sales at BCfresh Vegetables Inc., where he gained valuable experience working within a close-knit, highly focused organization. Earlier in his career, he was an account manager at Sunkist Growers from 2004 to 2008.
“I’m incredibly excited to return to Oppy,” Young says. “I’ve always looked at Oppy as my home, and I’m really looking forward to getting back to the roots of my career. So much has changed in the eight years I’ve been away. The growth of the company, the expansion of our capabilities, and the alignment with Dole have created exciting new opportunities, particularly for our Canadian customer base.”
Young adds his return offers a unique opportunity to blend past experience with new perspective.
“Over the last near-decade, I’ve grown in different ways by working in a smaller organization where my lens was very acute,” he says. “Coming back to a larger, global company like Oppy allows me to bring those skills and insights to a broader scale, supporting our Canadian team and delivering innovative, program-based strategies to retailers.”
Executive vice president of sales and general manager of the East Coast Brett Libke says Young’s leadership, relationships and cultural alignment make him well-suited to lead the Canadian sales team into its next chapter.
“Steve has a proven ability to champion both internal teams and external partners. His industry insight will strengthen customer trust, accelerate growth opportunities and align our sales team around shared goals and values,” Libke shares.
