Chris Eddy appointed sales manager at Duda Texas
Chris Eddy appointed sales manager at Duda Texas
Duda Texas, the McAllen, TX-based branch of A. Duda & Sons Inc. in Oveido, FL, announced the promotion of Chris Eddy to sales manager for fresh vegetables.
?Chris is well deserving of this position," said Dan Duda, corporate vice president of fresh fruit and vegetable sales. "He has excellent product knowledge and the personal and technical skills sets to drive our onion business to the next level."
Mr. Eddy?s appointment comes as Ken Stewart, who served as Texas sales manager for the previous 23 years, prepares for his retirement later this year. Mr. Stewart will continue to work alongside Mr. Eddy as senior account manager.
?Ken has been a tremendous mentor for Chris," Mr. Duda said. "I thank him for his many years of dedication and service to our Texas operations and for his continuing contributions as we make this transition."
Mr. Eddy joined Duda in 1991 as sales coordinator. He was subsequently promoted to account manager and senior account manager and, in 2002, was appointed assistant sales manager. Prior to working for Duda, he was a produce inspector for Topco, and supervised packing and shipping at Otto Strube Farms.
A native of Uvalde, TX, Mr. Eddy earned a bachelor?s degree in agricultural economics from Texas Tech University and an MBA from Texas A&M University.
Mr. Eddy?s knowledge of the Duda name stretches back to the mid-1970s, when his father, as well as Mr. Stewart, worked for Valley Onions, which Duda acquired in 1972. When Valley Onions was acquired by Duda, Mr. Eddy?s father relocated to the Uvalde area and began farming with the help of his father.
?I've always been on the growing and shipping side," said Mr. Eddy, "I spent six months out on the road learning the buying side when I was inspecting. So I got to see the other side of the business before coming back to the shipping side."
Mr. Eddy has seen Duda grow its operation since his start with the company in 1991. "When I first came here, we sold onions from December to July; August through November we didn?t have much to offer," said Mr. Eddy. "Now we ship onions 12 months of the year in nine growing regions."
He also noted that Duda and Keystone Fruit Marketing Inc. have formed an alliance to market sweet onions year-round and advance the integrity of the sweet onion category through the use of a third-party flavor-certification process.
Mr. Stewart has seen the industry change dramatically over his 23 years with Duda. The Internet, the shrinking number of chainstores and the multitude of different-sized onion packs have increased the workload required, according to Mr. Stewart. "When I started, we had the 50-pound bag and we had the 20-pound bag. Now we have all these value-added consumer packs to keep track of, too. It's probably doubled our workload here from the time I began to now."
Mr. Stewart enjoyed his days at Duda and is helping Mr. Eddy settle into his new position until his retirement, or as he calls it, "my eventual demise." Mr. Stewart will be missed at Duda, not only for his experience but for his Texas-sized personality as well.
?When I was in college, we didn?t have computers. You needed to have a strong personality for sales and had to be quick enough to be your own personal computer. You had to know how to play the cards and whether to hold "em or fold "em, and when."
?Chris is well deserving of this position," said Dan Duda, corporate vice president of fresh fruit and vegetable sales. "He has excellent product knowledge and the personal and technical skills sets to drive our onion business to the next level."
Mr. Eddy?s appointment comes as Ken Stewart, who served as Texas sales manager for the previous 23 years, prepares for his retirement later this year. Mr. Stewart will continue to work alongside Mr. Eddy as senior account manager.
?Ken has been a tremendous mentor for Chris," Mr. Duda said. "I thank him for his many years of dedication and service to our Texas operations and for his continuing contributions as we make this transition."
Mr. Eddy joined Duda in 1991 as sales coordinator. He was subsequently promoted to account manager and senior account manager and, in 2002, was appointed assistant sales manager. Prior to working for Duda, he was a produce inspector for Topco, and supervised packing and shipping at Otto Strube Farms.
A native of Uvalde, TX, Mr. Eddy earned a bachelor?s degree in agricultural economics from Texas Tech University and an MBA from Texas A&M University.
Mr. Eddy?s knowledge of the Duda name stretches back to the mid-1970s, when his father, as well as Mr. Stewart, worked for Valley Onions, which Duda acquired in 1972. When Valley Onions was acquired by Duda, Mr. Eddy?s father relocated to the Uvalde area and began farming with the help of his father.
?I've always been on the growing and shipping side," said Mr. Eddy, "I spent six months out on the road learning the buying side when I was inspecting. So I got to see the other side of the business before coming back to the shipping side."
Mr. Eddy has seen Duda grow its operation since his start with the company in 1991. "When I first came here, we sold onions from December to July; August through November we didn?t have much to offer," said Mr. Eddy. "Now we ship onions 12 months of the year in nine growing regions."
He also noted that Duda and Keystone Fruit Marketing Inc. have formed an alliance to market sweet onions year-round and advance the integrity of the sweet onion category through the use of a third-party flavor-certification process.
Mr. Stewart has seen the industry change dramatically over his 23 years with Duda. The Internet, the shrinking number of chainstores and the multitude of different-sized onion packs have increased the workload required, according to Mr. Stewart. "When I started, we had the 50-pound bag and we had the 20-pound bag. Now we have all these value-added consumer packs to keep track of, too. It's probably doubled our workload here from the time I began to now."
Mr. Stewart enjoyed his days at Duda and is helping Mr. Eddy settle into his new position until his retirement, or as he calls it, "my eventual demise." Mr. Stewart will be missed at Duda, not only for his experience but for his Texas-sized personality as well.
?When I was in college, we didn?t have computers. You needed to have a strong personality for sales and had to be quick enough to be your own personal computer. You had to know how to play the cards and whether to hold "em or fold "em, and when."
