Craig Stauffer has announced his plans for retirement after a four-decades-long career.
Stauffer will retire from his day-to-day business activities effective December 31, 2023 and will transition to a strategic role on the Board of Directors of the Vanguard International Group.
Stauffer and Guy Kisling founded Vanguard in 1991 with a staff of two people and nurtured the growth of the company into a global enterprise with 10 global offices and a team of produce leaders. During his time as CEO of Vanguard, Stauffer also led the establishment of Vanguard Peru and Vanguard Direct.
Right: Craig Stauffer
“Craig’s vision, foresight and commitment paved the way for Vanguard to continue its position as a global leader for decades to come,” said Luis Paz-Galindo, a Blue Road Capital partner and a member of the Vanguard Group’s Board of Directors. “Craig has our full support as he begins this new chapter in his life and we look forward to having him focused on strategic initiatives at the Board level.”
“I will continue to be active and focus my efforts at the Board level on strategic initiatives. This decision was not an easy one for me because I love this industry and I am very passionate about our business, and as everyone knows the people at the Vanguard group of companies are like family. However, this is the optimal time to pass the torch to Manuel Yzaga, Dirk Winkelmann and our global leadership team,” said Stauffer.
Effective January 1, 2024, Manuel Yzaga, the current CEO of Vanguard Peru, will become the new CEO of The Vanguard International Group. Yzaga joined the Vanguard team in 2017 and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Vanguard Group CEO position. Prior to joining the Vanguard team, Yzaga served as Sun World’s country representative and consultant in Peru and was responsible for introducing Sun World’s proprietary varieties to Peruvian growers. Prior to Sun World, he was a table grape grower, shipper and export sales and marketer in Ica, Peru.
“I have been closely following Craig´s vision of our global business and our vertically integrated strategy, understanding our markets, our partnerships, as well as the why and the how questions. We have deployed a very potent vertically integrated strategy that we will continue to work, consolidating that vision with a multi-fruit strategy in Peru and eventually moving to other geographies in addition to valued 3rd-party strategic partners,” said Yzaga.
Dirk Winkelmann, the current president of Vanguard Direct, will also become the Group’s chief commercial officer and president of Vanguard International USA. He rejoined Vanguard in 2015, bringing 28 years of industry experience.
For more information:
Andrea Bava
Vanguard International USA
Tel: +1 (778) 908-1764
[email protected]
https://www.vanguardteam.com/en/