Titan Farms brings sales in-house under new vice president
Titan Farms brings sales in-house under new vice president
SAVANNAH, GA — Daryl Johnston made his first appearance here Jan. 9 at the Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference as the first vice president for sales at Titan Farms.
Johnston had worked in sales at Southern Specialties in Pompano Beach, FL; B&W Quality Products; and Dole Food Co. He also served as a consultant on reorganization and business development to Pure Fresh in Doral, FL.
Chalmers R. Carr III, who announced the appointment Jan. 6, said the newly created position is part of a move to bring all major functions in-house at the Titan firm.
Daryl Johnston, new vice president for sales at Titan Farms, with Chalmers R. Carr III, president.
“We are working to become a fully vertically integrated company, and bringing sales in-house is a big move in that direction,” he told The Produce News. “This change will bring us closer to our retail customers.”
Johnston said he was excited about building a sales division from the ground up. “We will be hiring five or six people for our sales team,” he said. “My portfolio includes marketing and new business development, along with serving our existing customers. My first priority is to get on the road and go see our customers.”
Titan, in Ridge Spring, SC, is a grower-packer-shipper of 2.4 million boxes a year of peaches, broccoli and Bell peppers.
“Representing our own products is a logical step to becoming a national player,” said Carr.
Bringing sales in-house was a three-year project, he explained, with processing the last major move.
“We are looking at getting into frozen, sliced peaches and peach puree,” he said, adding that the final move to processing is in its third and final year.
In addition to adding a sales division, Titan is hard at work building a $6 million packingline, which it plans to open by May 1, as well as making final arrangements for bringing processing operations in-house. And all this is taking place during what the outside observer might characterize as “down time.”
A bit like building an airplane while you are trying to fly it? “It’s not just a way of life,” Carr observed. “It is our life.”