Index Fresh VP of Sales Todd Elder retiring

Index Fresh Vice President of Sales and Marketing Todd Elder is retiring after 27 years with the company — and millions of pounds of avocados sold. 

Index Fresh said in a news release that Elder and his sales team helped transform the avocado into "a produce section powerhouse beloved for its health attributes and its delicious versatility."

“Todd Elder has been a major force in the avocado industry over his career, driving the category to new heights year after year,” said Steve Roodzant, president and CEO of Index Fresh, said in the release. “I’m particularly grateful for his steady leadership during my time at Index Fresh and he will be sorely missed.”

Elder joined Index Fresh in 1996, when annual avocado consumption in the U.S. was 500 million pounds and Index’s sales department had only two employees. Much has changed since then. Americans now consume nearly 3 billion pounds of avocados a year, according to the release, and the global marketer’s sales department places hundreds of millions of pounds of avocados in retailers and restaurants nationwide.

“I started when the industry was just beginning to emerge into something much bigger,” Elder said in the release. “In surfing terminology, we caught the wave and continued to ride it a long, long way.”

Elder referenced the golden rule as the key to his accomplishments in avocado sales. 

“If you treat people the way you want to be treated, then your customers become your friends and it becomes a very different relationship,” he said.

Related: Index Fresh reports record pricing for 2022 California avocado season

Elder also credited Index Fresh’s company culture and its staff for his successful career. 

“Our sales group did the heavy lifting and made my job easy,” he said. “You’re only as good as the people you’re around, and Index Fresh has really good people.”

Co-workers describe Elder as caring, hardworking and dedicated. 

“I couldn’t have asked for a better partner, mentor, co-worker and friend! I always felt like Todd had my back in every situation,” Index Fresh Vice President of Sales Debbie Willmann said in the release.

“Todd’s work ethic is top-notch,” John Dmytriw, Index Fresh’s vice president of business development, said in the release. “Never leaving a task incomplete or business unattended, his laser focus and attention to detail are next level. His customer-focused mindset has been a stellar example of how business should be approached day in and day out.”

Elder studied finance in college before joining the produce industry. His father worked in bananas, and Elder learned about produce while checking in trucks loaded from the banana boats in Long Beach, Calif. Elder gleaned an important piece of advice from his father, according to the release: "There’s no need to seek outside validation when you’re in sales. Everything you need to know about your performance is in the numbers."

Elder’s contributions to the avocado industry's growth allowed him to start a family and raise four kids doing what he loved, according to the release. In retirement, Elder plans to more time with his wife, kids and grandchildren, traveling, camping, snow skiing and cycling.

Index Fresh’s Vice President of Operations Santiago Pacheco said Elder played “a key role in building the company into the highly respected, successful company that it is today,” according to the release.