What’s your calling?
It seems like yesterday when this author attended his first PMA Convention in San Francisco … 39 years ago. There is a photo in my archives of Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner) and Soap Opera Star Emma Samms cutting the ribbon to open the trade show, and there are fond memories of being introduced to some of the industry’s giants, particularly Bob Backovich and Don Harris of Safeway (later Wild Oats and Whole Foods), Frieda Caplan of Frieda’s, and Jack Pandol of Pandol Bros.
One night, our small team loaded up taxis with boxes of Produce Business — air-shipped “hot off the presses” to the SFO Airport — and we proceeded to drop magazines under every door of the main hotel across from Moscone Center. It was truly a miracle that we accomplished this task without being caught or charged, but even today, we still have magazines delivered to each hotel room — now at a heavy cost but without the strain on our backs! (You might even be reading this Special Note in your hotel room now.)
For a kid of 23 who changed career paths — dropping out of grad school — because his best friend from college persuaded him that the produce industry was far greater than any other, that moment in San Francisco — Oct. 19, 1985, to be exact — was the moment I found my destiny.
Jim Prevor was right … The produce industry, especially the people in it, is one of amazement. Every day is unique because of the very perishable nature of the products we sell. That dynamic alone creates a unique breed of people willing to take risks and live in the moment. And it is the people making it all happen that attracts me the most.
Everyone has a story to tell. Whether it is their own journey, or the journey of their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents, the narrative is so rich that books can be written on almost every company in the trade. Throughout the next 12 months, as Produce Business approaches its 40th anniversary, I invite you to tell your story in the pages of this magazine and online at ProduceBusiness.com.
If you have a story you’d like to share about yourself or your family, I invite you to send it to using the form below.
I am looking forward to learning more about each and every one of you. pb