Avocados From Mexico and its CEO part ways
Avocados From Mexico and its CEO part ways
NEW ORLEANS -- When the Mexican Hass Avocados Importer Association and the Avocado Producers & Exporting Packers Association of Michoacán formed a new joint promotional organization earlier this year, they sought out an experienced leader to become chief executive officer.
Their search led to Tim O’Connor, the longtime CEO of the U.S. Potato Board, based in Denver. He took the helm of the group in April and oversaw the official launch of AFM in July.
Tim O’ConnorJust over two months later, on Sept. 12, O’Connor was let go by Avocados From Mexico.
At the time of his hiring, Adrian Iturbide Mejia, chairman of MHAIA, said in a release, “We are very excited to bring Tim on board. Tim has extensive experience in the produce industry and we are confident that as our new CEO, he will be able to build AFM from the ground up and take the lead in developing new strategies for increasing demand and consumption for avocados from Mexico. Creating AFM is one of the most important decisions the Mexican avocado industry has made since we began promoting avocados in the United States in 1997. We conducted a nationwide search for our CEO to ensure we found the most qualified person and we are very pleased and fortunate to have found Tim.”
“It just wasn’t a good fit,” O’Connor told The Produce News Oct. 19 just prior to the opening of the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit exposition, here.
O’Connor declined to elaborate, other than to say he and AFM are still negotiating his departure. He said he was in New Orleans for the PMA Fresh Summit “looking for new opportunities” and that he was launching a consulting business.
Prior to his tenure at the U.S. Potato Board, which lasted from 1999 to the spring of 2013, O’Connor worked for 12 years in the beef industry. He said he hopes to find clients that can take advantage of his expertise in food marketing and strategic promotions.