Folks like these make the industry great

Time is precious — it’s true for everyone, but especially for people in our nonstop world of produce. That’s why I want to thank the folks who have contributed this year to the PMG magazine and website, to education sessions at our events, and of course to our Produce Artist Award Series.

Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator for Four Seasons Produce, is known around the industry as an excellent merchandiser, but what’s even more impressive about Brian is his enthusiasm for sharing that expertise. His regular columns for us cover many merchandising topics, but this sentiment from one of his pieces about training really captures the fact that he’s a teacher at heart, and it embodies the attitude of so many of our contributors.

“Think about it — you could actually be working with and helping train and develop the next company produce manager, produce merchandiser or produce company vice president or even CEO, and their successes all started with your work and your team’s work and desire to help them grow and succeed,” Brian wrote. “Years from now, it would be pretty cool to be looked at and remembered as a mentor.”

I’m confident that’s already the case for Brian and for all these folks, and what a gift to that next generation of produce professionals and to the industry as a whole!

Four more people who have been so generous to contribute their knowledge through regular columns are Mike O’Brien, president of O’Brien Innovations and former VP of produce for Schnuck Markets; Armand Lobato, foodservice promotion director for the Idaho Potato Commission and longtime produce retail pro; Joe Watson, VP of membership and engagement for PMA and former director of produce for Rouses Markets; and Steve Patt, member of the leadership team for Tourtellot and Co.

It’s been a pleasure to work with each of them as they bring to bear in their writing unique experiences from their decades in the business and great vision for the future. Their zeal for produce and their dedication to helping the industry overall grow and thrive is evident in their writing.

Mike, Joe and Armand have also been supremely helpful in evaluating entries for our Produce Artist Award Series. Even more, they’ve taken part in our results webinars and delighted listeners with unparalleled commentary about the beauty and function of merchandising.

I’ve also been so fortunate to work with even more industry folks in the course of video interviews, podcasts and education sessions for our events: Rob Ybarra with Rouses, Scott Bennett with Jewel-Osco, Jeff Cady with Tops, Kevin Byers with PCC Community Markets, Michael Schutt with Raley’s, Chris Keetch with The Giant Co., Michael Tipton with Schnucks, Chris Romano with The Fresh Market and others.

It’s such a joy to get to deliver for the industry the wisdom these folks have been so willing to share. Thanks so much to all these and the many others who’ve been instrumental in our coverage of produce retail this year, and we look forward to more in 2021!

Ashley Nickle is editor of PMG and The Packer’s retail editor. E-mail her at anickle@farmjournal.com.