Packer 25 2021 — Carrie Mack

How did you get your start in the produce industry?

I’m born and raised here in Selah, Wash. I grew up around orchards, but I never really anticipated or planned on landing in the industry. I kind of stumbled into it on a temp job, and then I just really became immersed in the industry. I understood how much of our local economy is really fed by apples and the byproducts, and then once I got the opportunity to start in the industry, I was really fortunate to work with a lot of great families and growers, and companies that really saw potential in me and really helped me. I’ve been fortunate to keep having those opportunities throughout my career.

How would you describe your current role?

My current role is the senior sourcing manager over apples and pears and cherries for U.S. Walmart. My role is really to represent Walmart in the development and growth of long-term strategic partnerships out here (in Washington) and across the U.S. It is to find and work with the best shippers in the industry and to work with them on developing our surety of quality supplier mindset that the Walmart Global Produce Sourcing model has developed.

It really helps to ensure that we have our shelves full of that quality product (that) brings that great value, and more than anything, that stellar eating experience to our customer every day. (My role) is to be the mind, the ears and the eyes for the merchant out here in Washington.

Pre-COVID-19, my role typically was to be at all the orchards and the warehouses four or five days a week; that was great. And then to be obviously in Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, all the different apple growing regions that we pull our fruit from. We try to pull 90% of our product from the local growing regions and stay as close to growing in state that we can.

Since COVID-19, that has been a little bit more challenging. You’ve had to figure out creative ways to remain connected to those (grower-shippers). It has been really interesting to see people’s personalities as some of the older field men and orchardists have started doing TikTok and have sent me some videos.

What do you hope to accomplish/contribute through that role?

I’m super passionate about the industry and the people and the communities that they feed.

With long-term partnerships, (we) really hope that you can maintain those to develop not only the goals for Walmart, the surety of supply and driving good quality to the shelf. The long-term goal is really to improve that perception of Walmart’s quality and driving that availability to the shelf, and customers’ view of it. What you want to do is make sure that you are enhancing that view to the customer, but you are also making sure that you are giving the customers what they want at a value, and also creating a stronger demand of that product for the industry and driving consumers that ultimately will have a benefit of a return back to the grower.

We’re really, really excited about the plans that we have put together for the Cosmic Crisp (variety) and the partnership that we have with the industry to kick it off this season. And it’s a really important variety for the industry and we are getting behind it. We have a lot of varieties, and we get to tinker with them throughout the season and get good support from leadership and good engagement from the suppliers on it.

What industry groups are you involved with?

I’m actually right now thinking about (volunteering) on committees. I’ve been more at the stage where I’ve been able to influence within the industry but not (through) any formal roles. I think that one thing that took a lot of time and dedication was working with the industry, the pear growers, and the Pear Bureau Northwest on how to improve and deliver a better pear eating experience to the consumer. You can really see that has come to fruition over the last five years, and it has shifted the mindset of that industry.

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

There have been quite a few personal accomplishments. But I think anybody that knows me knows that I always think of we versus (me).

I would say one thing that I’m really proud of over probably the last year is my team. My team over this last year and a half has had a lot of challenges, as have so many, with all the supply chain (challenges) we faced, and my team really faced and overcame them.

We really have good grower-shipper partners, and they literally seem to move mountains for us. And I’m really proud that we were able to maintain our metrics, we grew our market share. And most importantly, we managed to stay sane for these crazy times. I’m not sure that every retailer can say that they had as strong of a year as we did in 2020. That would be the thing I’m most proud of is the team; we have a small but mighty team.

What does leadership mean to you?

Great leaders empower you. They trust their teams, help inspire individuals, they push them to achieve more than what that individual really thinks that they’re capable of doing. We’re pretty fortunate that at Walmart, within produce, we have some really good leaders — they let you embrace your individuality, promote that free thought. And most importantly, we really do get time for self-development. I don’t think a lot of organizations give you that. But that’s really what good leaders are. And I’ve been fortunate to work with good leaders here and in previous organizations as well.

Who are some of your industry mentors?

Rich Gonzalez, vice president of global produce sourcing for Walmart — he’s meant a lot to me. We worked together at L&M and then he came over to Walmart and I came over to Walmart a little bit after him.

He is a good leader. We have a lot of the same values. Be humble, be kind, do the right thing, treat people right and good things will follow. He has helped me to grow a lot along the way.

Brian Focht, now with the Washington Apple Growers Marketing Association, helped me with some of the opportunities that I had and invested in teaching me some areas where I was weak. He’s been a good source for me along the way. He is somebody I rely on for a trusted mentor.

What's your favorite efficiency hack?

I’m not a good sleeper, so I always have a notepad by side. I write things down or I put it in my phone. I am a big note taker. I’m always prioritizing things and I love to check boxes.

I do still have my legal pad around here occasionally, but I’ve really converted to OneNote. I started being a box checker early on. I didn’t have a traditional way of coming up with in the industry. Everything I learned was just by keeping my eyes and ears open.

I think people that are really close to me know that I didn’t have the formal education (in agriculture). Everything that I learned, I learned from the field man, the orchardist, production — anybody that invested in me. I really am a firm believer, and I push this on everybody now, that if you’re not listening, and you’re not learning from anybody that’s crossed your path every single day, you are missing out on the biggest opportunity. All these people here have really taught me everything and gave me the chances to move up within the industry. I’m very fortunate.