Mike Roberts, 49 years old, has been in the produce industry for 30 years. He started in 1989 at a Food 4 Less Store in North Little Rock, AR as a part-time employee to get through college. He enjoyed the atmosphere and the people so much that he decided to make a career out of it.

He has held many positions in the produce department from clerk to merchandiser, and now is the Director of Produce Operations for Harps Food Stores, Inc, where he has been employed for 25 years.

Roberts graduated from the 2012 STEP-UPP program. He is happily married to his wife, Courtney Roberts.

Part of Yerecic Label’s third generation, Kristin Yerecic Scott joined the family business in 2014. During her time at Yerecic Label, Kristin refreshed the Yerecic Label brand, developed the company’s Sales Toolkit Center and launched their eCommerce site to name just a few projects. As a pressure sensitive label supplier serving the fresh produce industry, Kristin helps Yerecic Label focus on consumer trends, packaging insights and market research to intimately understand retail, grower/shipper and shopper needs.

Kristin proudly serves as chair of the SEPC Education and Palmer Home committees. Kristin is also part of the Board of Directors for TLMI, where she assisted with the association’s brand refresh. Kristin graduated from Ohio University with a B.S. in strategic communications, and minors in both economics & business.

Kristin and her husband Matt live in Pittsburgh, PA with their son Colton.

Sloan grew up in a small farming community in Southeast Georgia where he has lived all his life. He worked in his family business as a child. He attended Georgia Southern University, where he obtained a degree in biology. After graduation he started working seasonally with Bland Farms in 1996. He found he really enjoyed the small family farm environment and began working full time in 1999. Over the years he has held numerous positions within the company. Sloan has been in sales since the early 2000’s.

Sloan has always believed in the 3 F’s in life (faith, family, and friends); this is what drew him to both Bland Farms and the SEPC. Sloan serves on numerous SEPC committees and is the liaison for the UGA STARS students. Like many others, he has really found a lot of joy working with the STARS students over the past few years. He sees the real value the SEPC offers to all in produce and looks forward to what the future holds with the SEPC and the produce industry.

Gary Baker is the Sr. Director of Fresh at Merchants Distributors, LLC. In this role, Gary oversees the operations of Meat, Produce, and Deli/Bakery.

Gary has worked at other retail companies in his history including Kmart, Winn-Dixie, and Food Lion and has distinguished himself at each one of these companies as someone with high work ethics and dedication to the field.

Gary started with MDI as a Produce Buyer in 2004. He then served as the Produce Catogory Manager and most recently has served as Produce Director.

Gary is an innovative thinker and holds degrees in business administration and web technology design. Gary’s experience, retail background, customer relationships, industry knowledge and networking has helped MDI to have continued success.

He is also an avid Charlotte Panther fan and enjoys supporting the team.

David Sherrod is the President and CEO of the Southeast Produce Council. He was member #17 when the council was established in 1999. His passion for the produce industry began at age 16 when he started working for Piggly Wiggly Southern. Starting out as a produce clerk, he later became a produce buyer at the chain’s headquarters in Vidalia, Georgia.

After the acquisition of Piggly Wiggly Southern by Bruno’s Inc., he and his wife Sarah transferred to Birmingham, Alabama where he continued his career as Produce Category Manager. In 1995, he accepted the position of Merchandising Manager with Del Monte Fresh Produce. In 1997, David broadened his produce career by accepting the position of Regional Sales Manager with River Ranch Fresh Foods. In 1999, he began a 15-year long stint with Apio, Inc. as the Southeast Regional Business Manager. David took the helm of the SEPC in July 2014.

David has been married to his wife Sarah since 1992. They have two sons, Henry and Hudson, and a daughter, Hannah. He considers his family to be his pride and joy. There’s never a dull moment in the Sherrod household!

Jeff is the Corporate Produce Director at Performance Food Group. Jeff works with the Produce Procurement and Marketing teams at 35 PFG Distribution Centers across the US. In this role Jeff leads the Produce Teams by having training seminars, leadership training and one on one decision making.

Jeff has worked with several reputable Food Service and Retail organizations over the last 30 years such as Taylor Farms, US Foods, Harris Teeter and others. During Jeff’s tenure at these different companies he lead many of his staff to successful management careers as he lead them by example. Success in Integrity, Training, Sales Growth, GP Growth and most importantly exemplary Customer Service.

Jeff is an avid tournament bass fisherman. He also loves spending time with his family and especially his 3 granddaughters. Jeff is a member of the praise team at his local church in NC.

Mark was drawn into the sweet onion business at an early age.  He worked on the family farm alongside his father and two brothers, where they primarily grew Vidalia® sweet onions.

Mark graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1994 and began his career as a crop consultant.  In the fall of 2004, Mark rejoined Shuman Farms and is now the Director of Operations.

Mark is passionate about his Faith and his community.  He has served as Chairman of the Administrative Board and as Lay Leader of his home church.  There, in 2010, he organized The CARE Team, a community outreach program.  Mark now serves as the chair of the Paul Anderson Youth Home Committee.

Mark and his wife, Victoria, have been married for 22 years and have two sons, Chap and Mason. Mark enjoys Georgia football and is an outdoor enthusiast.

.

Kim Andreason has spent the past 15 years as the Produce Program Coordinator for Jason’s Deli which is a Fast Casual Restaurant Chain with more than 250 locations in 28 states. With nearly three decades of successful experience in the fresh produce industry, Kim specializes in supply chain management working directly with grower shippers and foodservice distributors to implement nationwide produce contracts with annual sales exceeding $40 million.

In 2016, she began working with the SEPC Food Service Committee, 2017 found Kim as one of the founding members of Dallas Fresh Foods Association, and in 2018 she joined the SEPC Southern Roots Committee.

Kim and her husband Richard have been married 15 years and currently reside in Dallas, Texas. They have 5 children: Austin, Ashley, Alexandria, Emily, and William. She and her family enjoy weekending at the lake, boating, live music, cooking, and gathering with family and friends.

Jeff has recently been promoted to the VP of Produce & Floral for Tops Markets, having served as Director of Produce & Floral for Tops Markets since 2014. His career began in 1986 in Akron, Ohio working for Giant Eagle. In 1990, he started with Finast and in 1996 Tops & Finast merged and so began his career at Tops.

His corporate career began in 2002 when he relocated from Ohio to Rochester, NY as a Produce & Floral Specialist. In 2008 he began working at Tops Headquarters and held roles such as buyer and category manager.

He has been involved with PMA /United Fresh and is currently on the SEPC Board of Directors.

In 2020, Jeff was awarded the 2020 Produce Retailer of the Year and the PMA Retail Merchant Innovation Award.

He resides in Cheektowaga, NY with his wife, Karen, He has 3 children and 4 grandchildren, loves Cleveland & Ohio State sports, walking his dog Chesney and occasionally playing golf.

.

Derek grew up in Raleigh, NC where his family had deep roots in agriculture and produce. One of his
grandfathers owned a sweet potato and tobacco farm where he spent his summers and weekends
working in the fields and developing his passion for agriculture. His other grandfather was a partner in
Ennis & McGee Produce on the Raleigh Farmer’s Market which set the foundation for his love of the
produce industry.

Derek attended East Carolina University, where he obtained a degree in Economics and was also the
school mascot, Pee Dee the Pirate. After graduation he began working at L&M Companies in 2002
where he has held numerous positions over the past 20 years and is currently the Director of Sales for
Potatoes and Onions.

Derek has been married to his wife Laura since 2011 and has 2 daughters, Eleanor and Adaline. In his
free time he enjoys traveling with his family, hunting and playing golf.

Maclaren started in grocery retail at the age of 16, working at the store level all the way to corporate, eventually leading the Fruit Category team at Food Lion. His experiences allowed him to work at the store level, multi-store merchandising and eventually as the Category Manager of Fruit. After 16 years on the retail side, he moved into the supply side as the Sales Manager for Sbrocco International, a premium fruit importer.

Maclaren is passionate about serving his customers with the best produce, building loyalty and driving solutions for a highly competitive and dynamic marketplace. He works out of the Charlotte, NC office with his sales team.

Maclaren and his wife, Erica, are raising their four children together in Charlotte. His family is a group of avid readers, Duke Basketball fans, Carolina Panthers junkies and anything NASCAR related.

Craig Fields is Vice President of Business Development-Emerging Channels for RPE — a grower, marketer, and shipper of year-round potatoes and onions. He is a military veteran who began his career with five years of service in the United States Marine Corps. During 15+ years in the produce industry, Craig has worked for RPE in a variety of roles to fulfill diverse organizational and customer needs.

After starting his RPE career as an account manager, Craig’s functional areas of responsibility evolved to include everything from Director of Account Management, program development, and customer engagement to grower relations and bid/pricing strategy. Craig has extensive vendor-managed inventory (VMI) experience and a broad perspective gained by working on large and small national and regional retail accounts.

Kim Flores is the VP of Business Development for Pro Citrus Network and their cold storage/logistics company Foremost Fresh Direct. Kim’s career in the fresh produce industry spans over 25 years where she has served on various industry councils and committees such as the United Fresh Produce Association, the Produce Marketing Association, and the Southeast Produce Council. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Organizational Management.

Kim has a deep passion for agriculture and is committed to the produce industry’s mission of increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables in the US. Kim resides in Vero Beach, FL with her husband of 33 years, an active-duty US Air Force/Space Force veteran. They have raised two children and have two grandchildren. Outside of work, Kim is actively involved in church, serves as a Sunday School teacher, and enjoys time with family, traveling, time at the beach, scuba diving, and being outdoors.

Jose M. Roggiero has over two decades of working experience in the fresh produce industry. His interest in the perishables business started while attending the Pennsylvania State University and earning a B.S. degree in Agricultural Business and Economics. During his career, he has worked in several positions in the areas of quality assurance, customer service, product management and sales.

However, it was his entrepreneurial spirit and desire for innovation that got him to start up Freshway Produce. Our reliability and personalized customer service is our biggest strength, and we strongly believe in long and profitable business relations.

Freshway Produce is a packer-importer-distributor of fresh exotic fruits from 4 different countries from the US, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean.

After graduating from the University of Florida with degrees in business management as well as agriculture, Don started his career in south Florida working for various tropical fruit grower/packer/shippers. After a few years he had the opportunity to join Del Monte Fresh Produce as a melon sales manager overseeing Southeast-based accounts. He served in this capacity for 5 years, until the opportunity arose for him to join Walmart and learn the other side of the produce business. Over the past 9 years, he has served in various produce sourcing roles and is currently the Sr. Buying Manager for the tomato category.

Don and his wife Lindsay have been married 16 years and have 3 children—Wesley, Tyler, and Ella. They currently reside in Bentonville, AR.

Hilary Long is an executive with 20+ years of experience in Sales, Marketing and Product Development. Hilary is the VP of Sales & Marketing at Frey Farms, where she oversees key segments of their Produce and Beverage divisions. Prior to Frey, Hilary worked in corporate sales with JPMorgan Chase. In 2009, she started a marketing agency to focus on the food and beverage industry. Hilary has proven skills in acquiring and growing customer relationships to drive sales. Hilary has created strategic relationships with companies in various industries such as; Walmart, Publix, Subway, the NCAA, NFL, Groupon, Performance Food Group, Chipotle and Panera. At Frey, Hilary works closely with retail and foodservice customers to develop strategic marketing campaigns. Hilary has a true passion and commitment to the produce industry, an industry that’s critical for putting healthy food on the table. She loves that her career is creating opportunities for future generations.

Mike has been with Schnucks for the past 7 years, prior Mike worked for 28 years for K-VA-T Food Stores as Director of Produce/Floral position for 14 years. Mike began his produce career as a produce clerk to a produce manager and district produce supervisor over a group of stores. Mike has served on the United Fresh Retail Advisory Board, the SEPC Board of Directors.

Mike and his wife, Susan, have two daughters, Kayla and Kasey. Mike has served in many different capacities for local charitable organizations boards in his communities and enjoys fishing and the outdoors.

“As many of us in the produce industry, I have a passion for people and driving produce sales. One of my mentors once said ‘we are in the people business; we just happen to sell produce along the way’ because when you energize, motivate, strengthen and empower people you will see tremendous results!”

Ross Williams currently serves as the COO of Titan Farms, grower, packer and processor of peaches and vegetables. The operation consists of over 6,000 acres of peaches, 1000 acres of vegetables, with over 900 employees annually.

Ross has served in various roles within Titan, through hard work and dedication he has risen to lead the operational divisions of the company. Ross has served on various trade committees such as American Farm Bureau Industry Advisory Councils and International Fresh Produce Association’s Grower Shipper Council as well as was named the Southeast Produce Council’s 2018 Next Generation Award Winner.

Ross believes that educating and developing the next generation of produce professionals is critical to the growth, improvement and success of the industry. Using this mindset, Ross has helped to grow Titan and further solidify its commitment to be a benchmark of the industry.

Ross earned a Bachelor of Science from Clemson University.

David has been in the produce industry for over 50 years. Worked for Winn Dixie for 19 years and been with US Foods for over 30 years. He has served on the Foodservice committee for 10 years. David is a father to three daughters and nine grandchildren. He enjoys spending time with his family. He has been married to his wife Tammy for 46 years. He enjoys working around the house and gardening. David is a Christian and loves the Lord. He is involved with local community meetings that allows him to have a voice in decisions made about community issues that support families and children. David enjoys being around people and never has met a stranger. He is an avid sports fan and likes supporting the Clemson Tigers.