Keim leaves Prime Produce, will open branch office for as yet unnamed firm
Keim leaves Prime Produce, will open branch office for as yet unnamed firm
Dick Keim, director of sales for Prime Produce International LLC in Lake Forest, CA, has left Prime Produce and will be opening a Southern California office for an existing produce company whose name is yet to be announced.
Mr. Keim, 71, who retired from Oceanside Produce in Oceanside, CA, in 2003 after seven years as that company?s president, joined Prime Produce shortly after that company was founded by Avi Crane in early 2004. Earlier in his produce career, Mr. Keim had worked for Dole, and before that, he had his own company, Trans West Fruit Co., which he sold to Dole. He began his career in produce sales in the 1960s at American Fruit Growers.
Mr. Crane confirmed to The Produce News on Tuesday morning, April 5, that Mr. Keim was no longer working for Prime Produce. He said that Mr. Keim?s expressed reason for leaving was that for personal and family-health reasons he no longer wanted to make the commute from his home in Vista, CA, to Lake Forest. Mr. Crane said that he had not yet settled on a replacement for Mr. Keim.
Later Tuesday, The Produce News was able to reach Mr. Keim by telephone at his home. He confirmed that for a couple of reasons, he had decided that he did not want to continue making the daily commute to Vista. Instead, he said, "what I will be doing will be something here, locally."
Mr. Keim recently had "a complete knee replacement, so I have been recuperating from that," he said. "Then my wife got ill during all that. I just decided I needed to be close to home and closer to her. So I started looking for something down here [in northern San Diego County], and it looks like we are going to be putting something together."
Mr. Keim said that he was not yet ready to give any details on just what kind of a deal he was putting together, but he did say it will not be a new company. "I will be opening an office [in Vista] for an existing company," he said. "We?re just finalizing the process right now," and he said that an announcement would be forthcoming in a matter of days.
He did reveal that in his new role, he will continue to be involved in avocados in addition to "a full line of fruits and vegetables, heavy to vegetables."
Mr. Keim, 71, who retired from Oceanside Produce in Oceanside, CA, in 2003 after seven years as that company?s president, joined Prime Produce shortly after that company was founded by Avi Crane in early 2004. Earlier in his produce career, Mr. Keim had worked for Dole, and before that, he had his own company, Trans West Fruit Co., which he sold to Dole. He began his career in produce sales in the 1960s at American Fruit Growers.
Mr. Crane confirmed to The Produce News on Tuesday morning, April 5, that Mr. Keim was no longer working for Prime Produce. He said that Mr. Keim?s expressed reason for leaving was that for personal and family-health reasons he no longer wanted to make the commute from his home in Vista, CA, to Lake Forest. Mr. Crane said that he had not yet settled on a replacement for Mr. Keim.
Later Tuesday, The Produce News was able to reach Mr. Keim by telephone at his home. He confirmed that for a couple of reasons, he had decided that he did not want to continue making the daily commute to Vista. Instead, he said, "what I will be doing will be something here, locally."
Mr. Keim recently had "a complete knee replacement, so I have been recuperating from that," he said. "Then my wife got ill during all that. I just decided I needed to be close to home and closer to her. So I started looking for something down here [in northern San Diego County], and it looks like we are going to be putting something together."
Mr. Keim said that he was not yet ready to give any details on just what kind of a deal he was putting together, but he did say it will not be a new company. "I will be opening an office [in Vista] for an existing company," he said. "We?re just finalizing the process right now," and he said that an announcement would be forthcoming in a matter of days.
He did reveal that in his new role, he will continue to be involved in avocados in addition to "a full line of fruits and vegetables, heavy to vegetables."
