United Fresh Names Mary Coppola VP, Marketing & Communications
The United Fresh Produce Association has promoted Mary Coppola to the position of VP, marketing and communications. Coppola has been with the Washington, D.C.-based organization since the autumn of 2014, leading its marketing and communications initiatives.
“When Mary joined our team, we asked her to take on two major tasks,” noted United Fresh President and CEO Tom Stenzel. “First, she focused on growing the association’s marketing and communications capacity to deliver targeted messaging to our members and broader fresh produce industry.”
Continued Stenzel: “Equally important, Mary also took on the role of staff liaison to the association’s Produce Marketing & Merchandising Council, a group of 45 leading marketing professionals from our member companies. Working with these volunteer leaders, Mary has helped create a strong professional community of produce marketers that is helping our industry bring great new products to consumers around the world.”
The council organizes and hosts BrandStorm, an interactive learning and professional development event for produce marketers. The fourth annual BrandStorm will take place in San Francisco Feb. 20-22.
“Congratulations to Mary on this great and well-earned career step,” said Mark Munger, VP, sales and marketing of Los Angeles-based 4Earth Farms and chairman of United Fresh’s Produce Marketing & Merchandising Council. “We invite marketers from across our produce supply chain to join our council members, Mary and the United Fresh marketing team at this year’s BrandStorm conference for an amazing experience.”
In other United Fresh news, the application period is now open for the 25th class of the United Fresh Produce Industry Leadership Program. Each year, fellows are selected to participate in the program, which addresses four fundamental goals: leadership development, business relationships, government and public affairs, and media and public communications. Since its launch in 1995, more than 250 produce industry members have graduated from the exclusive program, which is sponsored by Indianapolis-based Corteva Agriscience. Application forms are available on United Fresh’s website.
United Fresh unites companies across every segment of the fresh produce supply chain, encompassing growers, shippers, fresh-cut processors, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, foodservice operators, industry suppliers and allied associations.
