BrightFarms expands sales staff, prepares for NE expansion

BrightFarms, Irvington, N.Y., has promoted Abby Prior to senior vice president of sales and marketing, and Matt DiNitto as director of sales — East.

Prior, hired by BrightFarms in 2015 as vice president of business development, was most recently vice president of marketing for the indoor grower. Before that, she was director of marketing of premium bread at Bimbo Bakeries USA and was also at Aramark and Unilever.

At BrightFarms, Prior has helped build relationships with retailers, including Walmart, Kroger and Ahold-Delhaize, according to a news release. She has been named a Woman of Influence in the Food Industry by The Griffin Report. 

DiNitto has a background in consumer packaged goods, ranging from dairy to baked goods, according to the release. Most recently, he was senior director of national customers at Dean Foods. He also worked for Bimbo Bakeries USA, with national retail customers.

BrightFarms also has partnered with Affinity Sales as its Northeast broker to support sales growth; Bob McGowan is the lead account executive for BrightFarms, according to the release.

The grower is opening its largest greenhouse in Selinsgrove, Pa., in January, expanding distribution throughout the Northeast.

“This expansion of our customer team brings the energy and vision that will allow us to continue to build our best-in-class local salad program,” CEO Steve Platt said in the release. “We’re rapidly establishing a footprint across the Eastern U.S., we’re excited to open the Carolinas as our next market.”

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