Dennis Gertmenian retires from Ready Pac
Dennis Gertmenian retires from Ready Pac
Dennis Gertmenian, chief executive officer of Ready Pac Foods in Irwindale, CA, has retired from the company he founded in 1969.
This is the second retirement for the 62-year-old Mr. Gertmenian, and this one looks like it will stick. He will, however, continue as a board member for Ready Pac Foods and remains the company's major shareholder.
Mr. Gertmenian said that the company is coming off a record year and is at the forefront of the industry again.
Ready Pac President Michael Solomon, who is stepping into the role as chief executive officer, said that the "vision, passion and energy [Mr. Gertmenian] has possessed for 40 years would leave anyone speechless."
Back in the late 1960s, Mr. Gertmenian took an opportunity to assist his father with the family business and wound up helping to pioneer what is now a multi-billion-dollar fresh-cut salad industry.
Mr. Gertmenian was in his senior year of college when his father went on a hunting trip and left him to oversee the family business -- Pasadena Produce -- which had accounts with hotels, restaurants and schools. The Van de Camps restaurant chain was Pasadena Produce's largest account.
Van de Camps requested that Pasadena Produce provide it with salad mix rather than whole produce. In order to satisfy the customer, Mr. Gertmenian purchased the equipment necessary -- including a large bathtub -- and began servicing the account within three days.
The basic salad blend at the time was Iceberg lettuce, red cabbage and carrots. Mr. Gertmenian was in his last year at college and was serving in the Army reserves.
At the time, there were small purveyors of mixes such as coleslaw mix in poly bags and chopped salad mixes. But Mr. Gertmenian was the first to package a salad mix on a commercial scale.
"We were packing 10-pound bags, and it grew in scope," Mr. Gertmenian said.
A lot of products were being vacuum packed, and Mr. Gertmenian wondered if he could vacuum-pack lettuce. He found out that vacuum packing did indeed work for lettuce, and around 1970, the company came out with its own "Vac Pac" fresh-cut salads for foodservice.
"It took the shelf life [of lettuce] from three days to seven days," Mr. Gertmenian said.
In the late 1960s, the McDonald's and Taco Bell fast-food chains were buying Ready Pac's "Vac Pac" fresh-cut salads for their restaurants in Orange County. It wasn't long afterward that Ready Pac began shipping product by air to the East Coast.
Yet while opportunities presented themselves, in those early days Mr. Gertmenian had "more unanswered questions than answered questions," he said. But he always had faith that he would figure out the answers.
Ready Pac expanded from foodservice to make its retail debut in 1978. In 1990, Ready Pac partnered with French company Scalime, a leader in European fresh-cut produce processing and packaging technology, which led to the introduction of Ready Pac's popular European-style salad blends. Those European-style salad blends led to upscale salad varieties that have become the largest segment of packaged salads in the United States.
Regarding Mr. Gertmenian's retirement, Fresh Express President Tanios Viviani noted Mr. Gertmenian's "history of outstanding contributions to the fresh-cut industry and his well-earned new status in retirement," and said that while Mr. Gertmenian's day-to-day presence and passion will be missed, hopefully the industry "will continue to benefit from his unique insights."
Produce Marketing Association President Bryan Silbermann said that Mr. Gertmenian "helped create the fresh-cut salad category and has been a tireless champion for its growth," and that through his involvement in PMA and other associations, he showed the "power of involvement in industry leadership positions."
Matt McInerney, executive vice president of Western Growers Association, referred to Mr. Gertmenian as an "icon," adding, "He has a legacy of being an innovator. It's a tribute to a guy who never lost the focus of customer service."
Mr. McInerney described Mr. Gertmenian as a man with "vision and passion" and "incredible integrity." He said that Mr. Gertmenian took the fresh-cut sector "from a bathtub to state-of-the-art food safety."
Back in the 1970s, Mr. Gertmenian lobbied in favor of processing regulations. "The historical model is 24 heads of lettuce in a box," Mr. McInerney said. "[Processors] needed to transition to the tremendous opportunity."
Mr. Gertmenian served on PMA's retail board for a full term and spoke at various PMA conferences.
He also served as chairman of the International Fresh-Cut Produce Association. It was Mr. Gertmenian's involvement in IFPA that led him to help develop a number of food-safety-related initiatives. When the association was launched, the focus was on California processors, Mr. Gertmenian said. He helped form a technical community for food-safety issues and for fresh- cut processing guidelines in the United States.
In the early 1980s, Mr. Gertmenian helped develop a hotline for processors to call in with questions. The hotline was in use for more than a decade. "This [hotline] set the tone for processors by keeping an education program out there," Mr. Gertmenian said. In the early days, the hotline was receiving 60-70 calls a month.
Mr. Gertmenian retired earlier this decade for about two years, but he returned to the helm of Ready Pac in 2006 because the company was struggling. The company had expanded too rapidly, and financial forces were working against it.
"I had an obligation to the company," Mr. Gertmenian said. "I had to re-invest a significant amount of my capital back into it."
Retirement allows him to indulge in a lifelong endeavor of contributing to charitable organizations. It's a passion that he inherited from his father, he said.
His charitable involvements have included efforts with the YMCA and Ready Pac Kids To Camp, which sends 250 inner-city children throughout the country to camp each year.
Mr. Gertmenian serves on the executive committee of the California Community Foundation as its budget and development chairman. He is also involved in the University of Virginia's "Semester At Sea" program and is an alumnus of the world-traveling course.
Ready Pac, along with its subsidiary companies, Missa Bay and OBIM Fresh Cut Fruit, have plants and offices throughout the United States with annual sales in excess of $750 million and more than 4,000 employees, making it one of the larger providers of fresh-cut produce in the nation.
This is the second retirement for the 62-year-old Mr. Gertmenian, and this one looks like it will stick. He will, however, continue as a board member for Ready Pac Foods and remains the company's major shareholder.
Mr. Gertmenian said that the company is coming off a record year and is at the forefront of the industry again.
Ready Pac President Michael Solomon, who is stepping into the role as chief executive officer, said that the "vision, passion and energy [Mr. Gertmenian] has possessed for 40 years would leave anyone speechless."
Back in the late 1960s, Mr. Gertmenian took an opportunity to assist his father with the family business and wound up helping to pioneer what is now a multi-billion-dollar fresh-cut salad industry.
Mr. Gertmenian was in his senior year of college when his father went on a hunting trip and left him to oversee the family business -- Pasadena Produce -- which had accounts with hotels, restaurants and schools. The Van de Camps restaurant chain was Pasadena Produce's largest account.
Van de Camps requested that Pasadena Produce provide it with salad mix rather than whole produce. In order to satisfy the customer, Mr. Gertmenian purchased the equipment necessary -- including a large bathtub -- and began servicing the account within three days.
The basic salad blend at the time was Iceberg lettuce, red cabbage and carrots. Mr. Gertmenian was in his last year at college and was serving in the Army reserves.
At the time, there were small purveyors of mixes such as coleslaw mix in poly bags and chopped salad mixes. But Mr. Gertmenian was the first to package a salad mix on a commercial scale.
"We were packing 10-pound bags, and it grew in scope," Mr. Gertmenian said.
A lot of products were being vacuum packed, and Mr. Gertmenian wondered if he could vacuum-pack lettuce. He found out that vacuum packing did indeed work for lettuce, and around 1970, the company came out with its own "Vac Pac" fresh-cut salads for foodservice.
"It took the shelf life [of lettuce] from three days to seven days," Mr. Gertmenian said.
In the late 1960s, the McDonald's and Taco Bell fast-food chains were buying Ready Pac's "Vac Pac" fresh-cut salads for their restaurants in Orange County. It wasn't long afterward that Ready Pac began shipping product by air to the East Coast.
Yet while opportunities presented themselves, in those early days Mr. Gertmenian had "more unanswered questions than answered questions," he said. But he always had faith that he would figure out the answers.
Ready Pac expanded from foodservice to make its retail debut in 1978. In 1990, Ready Pac partnered with French company Scalime, a leader in European fresh-cut produce processing and packaging technology, which led to the introduction of Ready Pac's popular European-style salad blends. Those European-style salad blends led to upscale salad varieties that have become the largest segment of packaged salads in the United States.
Regarding Mr. Gertmenian's retirement, Fresh Express President Tanios Viviani noted Mr. Gertmenian's "history of outstanding contributions to the fresh-cut industry and his well-earned new status in retirement," and said that while Mr. Gertmenian's day-to-day presence and passion will be missed, hopefully the industry "will continue to benefit from his unique insights."
Produce Marketing Association President Bryan Silbermann said that Mr. Gertmenian "helped create the fresh-cut salad category and has been a tireless champion for its growth," and that through his involvement in PMA and other associations, he showed the "power of involvement in industry leadership positions."
Matt McInerney, executive vice president of Western Growers Association, referred to Mr. Gertmenian as an "icon," adding, "He has a legacy of being an innovator. It's a tribute to a guy who never lost the focus of customer service."
Mr. McInerney described Mr. Gertmenian as a man with "vision and passion" and "incredible integrity." He said that Mr. Gertmenian took the fresh-cut sector "from a bathtub to state-of-the-art food safety."
Back in the 1970s, Mr. Gertmenian lobbied in favor of processing regulations. "The historical model is 24 heads of lettuce in a box," Mr. McInerney said. "[Processors] needed to transition to the tremendous opportunity."
Mr. Gertmenian served on PMA's retail board for a full term and spoke at various PMA conferences.
He also served as chairman of the International Fresh-Cut Produce Association. It was Mr. Gertmenian's involvement in IFPA that led him to help develop a number of food-safety-related initiatives. When the association was launched, the focus was on California processors, Mr. Gertmenian said. He helped form a technical community for food-safety issues and for fresh- cut processing guidelines in the United States.
In the early 1980s, Mr. Gertmenian helped develop a hotline for processors to call in with questions. The hotline was in use for more than a decade. "This [hotline] set the tone for processors by keeping an education program out there," Mr. Gertmenian said. In the early days, the hotline was receiving 60-70 calls a month.
Mr. Gertmenian retired earlier this decade for about two years, but he returned to the helm of Ready Pac in 2006 because the company was struggling. The company had expanded too rapidly, and financial forces were working against it.
"I had an obligation to the company," Mr. Gertmenian said. "I had to re-invest a significant amount of my capital back into it."
Retirement allows him to indulge in a lifelong endeavor of contributing to charitable organizations. It's a passion that he inherited from his father, he said.
His charitable involvements have included efforts with the YMCA and Ready Pac Kids To Camp, which sends 250 inner-city children throughout the country to camp each year.
Mr. Gertmenian serves on the executive committee of the California Community Foundation as its budget and development chairman. He is also involved in the University of Virginia's "Semester At Sea" program and is an alumnus of the world-traveling course.
Ready Pac, along with its subsidiary companies, Missa Bay and OBIM Fresh Cut Fruit, have plants and offices throughout the United States with annual sales in excess of $750 million and more than 4,000 employees, making it one of the larger providers of fresh-cut produce in the nation.
