FPFC holds annual holiday luncheon and charity auction

: by Tom Fielding | December 06, 2018

CERRITOS, CA — The Fresh Produce & Floral Council Annual Holiday Luncheon and Charity Auction took place Wednesday, Dec. 5, at the newly renovated Sheraton Cerritos Hotel, here. Between live and silent auctions, as well as numerous other donations from the produce industry, the FPFC event raised more than $120,000 for the Orange County Food Bank and Caterina’s Club, a charity that feeds pasta dinners to more than 4,000 homeless and underprivileged children every night.

Radio host Neil Saavedra, whose KFI show The Fork Report is the top-rated food radio show in the U.S., served as chief auctioneer of the program, along with Quebec Distributing’s Marvin Quebec. The annual FPFC Dinner Dance is next on the horizon and will take place Jan. 26 at Disney’s Grand Californian in Anaheim, CA.

Carolyn Vergel De Dios of CHRISKA and And Alyssa Cota of Empire Marketing.

Kellee Harris of The Giumarra Cos. with John Fujii of Gelson’s Markets.

Alfonso Cano of Albertsons Inc. with Allen DeMo of Frieda’s Specialty Produce.

Phil Warren, Christina Dittenber and Mike Dittenber of Warren Packaging.

Ryan Fukuda of Avocados From Mexico with Nancy Hamilton and Bruce Flanigan of Advantage Fresh.

Brett Johnson of Lakeside Produce, Ken Ewalt of Great West Produce and Kevin Leap of Robinson Fresh.

Blair Butterworth and Lisa McNeece of Grimmway Farms/Cal-Organic Farms flank Greg Corrigan of Raley's.

Danny Goforth of Mann Packing Co. and Tyson Billingsley of Del Monte Foods.

Kelly Craner of B&C Fresh Sales, LeighAnne Thomsen of Calavo Growers and Dave Cruz of the California Avocado Commission.

Paul Villa of Great West Produce, Cheryl Kennick of City of Hope and Neil Saavedra, KFI radio host, who served as the luncheon chief auctioneer.

Dino Iacovino of Altar Produce, Connie Stukenberg of the California Avocado Commission, Troy Le Cheminant of Westlake Produce Co., Jennifer Ho of General Produce and Emily Fragoso of the MIXTEC Group.

Scot Olson of FreshSource with Michael Poore of the Grocery Outlet.

Carlos Preciado of Melissa’s/World Variety Produce, Erik Coronado of Avocados From Mexico, Mike Nunez of Sonora Farms and Jay Helberg of Valley Produce.

Darry Bollack of Mariani Nut and Michele Haveles of CMC Sales & Marketing.

Ericka Mesia and Brenda Malloy of Valley Fruit & Produce with Natasha Smith and Dan Acevedo of GreenFruit Avocado.

Brett Foulds, Natalie Machado and Dan Addiego of Fresh Source with Larry Webb of SullivanCurtisMonroe.

Kyle Hammans, Kevin Trisko and Dave Moore of Earthbound Farm.

Susan and Rich Van Valkenburg of Van Valkenburg & Associates flank Chef Bruno Serato, founder of Caterina’s Club charity.

Lisa Cabuto of GreenFruit Avocados and Dan McGrath of Robinson Fresh.

Gary Caloroso of The Giumarra Cos. with Patricia Jimenez and Paytynn Thomas of Fresh Concepts.

Kori Martin of Oppy with Lynnie Nojadera of Quebec Distributing Co.

Kelsey McAneny and Kristyn Lawson of Preferred Sales & Marketing with Rachelle Schulken of Renaissance Food Group.

Steven Muro of Fusion Marketing with Howard Nager of Sun Pacific.