Julian Lipschitz and Mike Weaver join Dayka & Hacket LLC
Julian Lipschitz and Mike Weaver join Dayka & Hacket LLC
Dayka & Hackett LLC in Reedley, CA, has expanded its sales team with the hiring of two high-profile industry veterans, Julian Lipschitz and Mike Weaver, in what the company characterized as "a dramatic shift within the California grape and tree fruit marketing community." According to a company press release, "the move is expected to significantly bolster Dayka & Hackett's market share" in the grape and tree fruit categories.
Mr. Lipschitz and Mr. Weaver, who started with Dayka & Hackett on Dec. 7, were previously with Fruit Patch Sales LLC in Dinuba, CA, the largest marketer of tree fruit in California and one of the larger grape marketers.
Tim Dayka, a partner in Dayka & Hackett, told The Produce News, "I think it is realistic to expect a 50 to 60 percent increase in the total number of tree fruit packages" that the company will market in the 2008 tree fruit season. He expects a significant increase in grape volume as well.
While contract discussions with growers are ongoing, the company expects a California tree fruit volume of more than 2.8 million cartons in 2008 and a grape volume in the range of 3 million cartons. The company, which also handles imported products from Chile, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, New Zealand and Spain, expects to represent a combined total of more than 7 million cartons of fruit in 2008.
"The addition of [Messrs. Lipschitz and Weaver] to our organization adds a tremendous amount of experience and a tremendous amount of product knowledge" to the company as well as industry contacts in "both the supermarket segment and the grower segment of our business," Mr. Dayka said. "They have a tremendous number of contacts with supermarkets, wholesalers and club stores throughout North America, and they have introduced us to a whole new base of growers that we expect to be working with for the 2008 California grape and tree fruit season."
Mr. Lipschitz started his career working "at different supermarkets ... for about seven-and-a-half-years." He later worked for Dole and Costco and spent about three years total in two separate stints on the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market. Subsequently he worked for Levy & Zentner and Blue Anchor and then spent nearly a decade at Hemphill & Wilson before going to Fruit Patch in 1997.
Mr. Weaver also worked in the supermarket industry at the beginning of his career. He then went to Mendelson-Zeller and, like Mr. Lipschitz, spent the last 20 years first at H&W and then at Fruit Patch.
"We started [the sales division at] Fruit Patch" with the 1995-96 season, said Mr. Weaver. Initially, "Julian and I were the sales team," along with one other individual. Additional sales personnel were brought in over time, and the program grew to the point that Fruit Patch had become the leading tree fruit shipper in the state as well as a major grape shipper.
Now at Dayka & Hackett, "we are going to take this [program] to the next level," he said. According to Mr. Dayka, the company's "primary focus" in its tree fruit program will be "the flavor and eating quality of any tree fruit commodity that we ship."
On the grape side of the business, he said, heavy emphasis will be placed on the Princess green seedless variety and on the Vintage red seedless variety, both "new and exciting varieties that retail has expressed a lot of interest in." With regard to the Vintage variety, "we expect to have approximately 75 percent of the entire crop in the state of California for that particular variety for the 2008 season," he said.
Mr. Lipschitz and Mr. Weaver, who started with Dayka & Hackett on Dec. 7, were previously with Fruit Patch Sales LLC in Dinuba, CA, the largest marketer of tree fruit in California and one of the larger grape marketers.
Tim Dayka, a partner in Dayka & Hackett, told The Produce News, "I think it is realistic to expect a 50 to 60 percent increase in the total number of tree fruit packages" that the company will market in the 2008 tree fruit season. He expects a significant increase in grape volume as well.
While contract discussions with growers are ongoing, the company expects a California tree fruit volume of more than 2.8 million cartons in 2008 and a grape volume in the range of 3 million cartons. The company, which also handles imported products from Chile, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, New Zealand and Spain, expects to represent a combined total of more than 7 million cartons of fruit in 2008.
"The addition of [Messrs. Lipschitz and Weaver] to our organization adds a tremendous amount of experience and a tremendous amount of product knowledge" to the company as well as industry contacts in "both the supermarket segment and the grower segment of our business," Mr. Dayka said. "They have a tremendous number of contacts with supermarkets, wholesalers and club stores throughout North America, and they have introduced us to a whole new base of growers that we expect to be working with for the 2008 California grape and tree fruit season."
Mr. Lipschitz started his career working "at different supermarkets ... for about seven-and-a-half-years." He later worked for Dole and Costco and spent about three years total in two separate stints on the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market. Subsequently he worked for Levy & Zentner and Blue Anchor and then spent nearly a decade at Hemphill & Wilson before going to Fruit Patch in 1997.
Mr. Weaver also worked in the supermarket industry at the beginning of his career. He then went to Mendelson-Zeller and, like Mr. Lipschitz, spent the last 20 years first at H&W and then at Fruit Patch.
"We started [the sales division at] Fruit Patch" with the 1995-96 season, said Mr. Weaver. Initially, "Julian and I were the sales team," along with one other individual. Additional sales personnel were brought in over time, and the program grew to the point that Fruit Patch had become the leading tree fruit shipper in the state as well as a major grape shipper.
Now at Dayka & Hackett, "we are going to take this [program] to the next level," he said. According to Mr. Dayka, the company's "primary focus" in its tree fruit program will be "the flavor and eating quality of any tree fruit commodity that we ship."
On the grape side of the business, he said, heavy emphasis will be placed on the Princess green seedless variety and on the Vintage red seedless variety, both "new and exciting varieties that retail has expressed a lot of interest in." With regard to the Vintage variety, "we expect to have approximately 75 percent of the entire crop in the state of California for that particular variety for the 2008 season," he said.
