Industry veteran Suzanne Wolter leaves Rainier Fruit Co.
Industry veteran Suzanne Wolter leaves Rainier Fruit Co.
Longtime Washington tree fruit marketer Suzanne Wolter has left Rainier Fruit Co. Dec. 3 after nearly 13 years as director of marketing.
“It would have been 13 years in January,” Wolter told The Produce News Dec. 15. “I came on board shortly before the Washington Apple Commission dissolved its domestic marketing efforts, and I feel as though I built Rainier's marketing department from the ground up, putting together a great new team.”
Suzanne Wolter
When asked what comes next, Wolter said, “What I accomplished over the last 10 years at Rainier and the professional growth that has afforded me, I am ready for a new challenge and bigger opportunity.”
For a number of years, Wolter had been based out of Chicago, where her husband, Greg, maintained their Illinois home. She divided her time between that city and the Selah, WA, offices of Rainier. In recent years, however, Wolter's position as marketing director at Rainier called for more travel, and she said, “When I wasn't traveling, my husband was coming here.”
She added, “He is very flexible, and he said wherever I want to go, that's great.”
The couple spent the week following Wolter's departure from Rainier on a cruise to the Caribbean, and she said now that they're back in Chicago, she plans on having a “really great December.”
Rainier President Mark Zirkle said on Dec. 15 Wolter's leaving was “completely amicable,” and he added, “We wish her the very best of luck in her new ventures.”
“She's done very good work here,” Zirkle continued. “It's just a matter of going in different directions now.”
The produce veteran's career was launched with a bachelor's degree in agricultural business from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, where she was also involved with the National Agricultural Marketing Association and a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority.
Putting that degree to good use for more than two decades, Wolter started in the industry with the Tom Lange Co. in California and then moved to Dole, where she worked in citrus in the Chicago office. In 2000 she moved from Dole's Chicago office to its Wenatchee, WA, operation, switching from citrus to tree fruit before joining Rainier in 2002.
Wolter has also been active in industry organizations. She has been on the boards for the U.S. Apple Committee and the Produce for Better Health Foundation.
