Apeel Sciences has promoted Ryan Fink to senior vice president of the Americas and Marius du Plessis to chief commercial officer in EMEA. Du Plessis and Fink will leverage the company’s produce supply chain experience to strengthen Apeel’s core commercial business, improve supply network value and expand market growth in Europe and The Americas.
Fink has been with Apeel for over two years, beginning as senior director major accounts and then as VP, before this most recent promotion. Before this, Fink worked at Mission Produce for over 10 years, culminating in his tenure as the vice president of North American operations.
Left to right: Ryan Fink, Marius du Plessis
Fink is focused on enabling the continued growth of Apeel’s avocado business, as well as new business opportunities for the network of over 30 avocado, lime and apple suppliers across the Americas. “We’ve learned a great deal in our first few years operating our commercial business and are making significant shifts in the way we work with suppliers to ensure they are realizing the benefits of our technology,” says Fink.
Du Plessis brings more than 20 years of produce experience to Apeel, as a C-level executive of fresh produce companies as well as produce branding experience in Jaffa Citrus and Clemengold. Du Plessis has a network in the produce industry and spends most of his time with the customer and supply base in their respective businesses and territories.
Apeel’s entry into EMEA was driven by early partners, including global produce importer Nature’s Pride, German grocery retailer EDEKA and a network of citrus suppliers in Spain. Du Plessis will focus on supporting the continued success of these partners, which includes increasing the value Apeel’s technology can deliver, improving operational efficiency and enabling new growth opportunities.
“I am very excited to work closely with the leaders in Europe’s fresh food supply chain leveraging the additional time provided by Apeel’s plant-based protection to unlock new opportunities for the food system,” says Du Plessis. “Apeel can directly contribute to support Europe’s F2F objectives by giving suppliers and grocers a better way to manage their channels to drive efficiency and quality and help prevent food waste in consumers' homes.”
For more information:
Jess FitzGerald
Apeel
[email protected]
https://www.apeel.com/