Packer Fresh Take: Catherine Gipe-Stewart of Superfresh Growers
Welcome to The Packer’s Fresh Take, a new column featuring advice and inspiration from leaders and innovators in the produce industry, in their own words.
Catherine Gipe-Stewart, communications manager for Superfresh Growers, talks advice, her proudest professional achievement and what we should add to our “to read” list.
Tell us your produce roots.
I’ve been in the food industry my whole life. My grandfather was a corn and soybean farmer, and my first job was picking blueberries in Corvallis, OR. My passion for knowing where my food comes from led me into the organic fair trade chocolate world in Seattle, where I worked for eight years. I was ready for a change, and my friend works in the apple industry in Yakima, Wash. My spouse and I chose to leave our urban life in Seattle to move to Yakima to live closer to the food I worked with. I’ve been in produce and with Superfresh Growers since.
Hit us with your best advice.
Honestly? Learn to golf. I wish someone had told me how important golf was to business before I had to take a few quick lessons and then golf my first scramble as part of the industry. Now that I’ve been golfing for a few years, I really enjoy it both for business and in my free time. Especially as a woman, I find it helpful to be able to break gender norms and “golf with the boys,” a term that is becoming less common. At West Coast Produce Expo, there were actually a surprising number of women golfers!
What are you most proud of?
I’ve led the Autumn Glory® social media and influencer campaigns, bringing all management in house. It has been a fun learning process and has been my baby over the years.
Something I’ve learned in this industry, and with Superfresh Growers, is to mentor and coach your colleagues, and to pull each other up, “so that you’ll be out of a job.” I’m happy to have a colleague now who has been working on social media with me over the years and is managing more of that. As much as I didn’t want to let that part of my job go, it has freed me up to pursue new challenges, and give room for my teammates to grow.
What’s your favorite tradeshow memory?
PMA Fresh Summit 2016 in Orlando. It was my second Fresh Summit, and I was starting to know more industry people. We planned some great events including mini golf, customer dinners, and, of course, we attended the Pitbull concert. That one was full of dancing and singing, starting with Pitbull (a personal favorite) and ending with local to me NW band, Herding Cats. Our team finished the “night” with iHop breakfast before a quick nap before the show opened again. It was amazing team bonding.
What keeps you cool as a cucumber?
I’ve been gardening a lot lately. My coworkers have probably heard too much about my composting worms. It’s been great to literally ground myself after a long workday, and my 2-year-old can easily join me “helping” in the garden.
On the weekends I enjoy hiking, backpacking, biking and golfing. My spouse and I want to bike tour/camp the Olympic Discovery Trail (135 miles) and have a goal of doing that this year or next.
What’s on the menu?
Fresh blueberries! I love having a pint with me for snacks and breakfast. At trade shows, I often snack on blueberries in between dinners and first thing in the morning to give me energy between all the busy events.
Last summer I discovered Blueberry Ice Cream Pie, which looks super impressive, but is incredibly easy. It is a fast one to prep for summer parties. Superfresh Growers blueberry season starts in just a few weeks, and I can’t wait to have Pacific Northwest blueberries through the summer.
What should we put on our “to read” list?
Young Adult fiction is my jam. You’ll notice strong female characters and some undertones of racial justice in my favorite reads lately: Dread Nation series by Justina Ireland, Children of Blood and Bone series by Tomi Adeyemi, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Concrete Rose I have on my bedside table to read next). I’m in the middle of Moloka’I by Alan Brennert now.
What's the best concert you ever went to and why?
“Hellloooo Seattle! I said HELLLLLOOO Seattle!” Mavis Staples at Bumbershoot 2014. It was outside, under the Space Needle and Mavis walks up on stage immediately demanding attention. She grabs the mic and loudly starts addressing the audience. Her sister comes onto stage with her cane, and you know the Staples’ legends will give a performance of a lifetime. Even when the two elderly singing legends took a singing break and let the band solo for a bit, the crowd was dancing and swaying. Rain misted the audience in a truly Seattle way. It was a night to remember.
