Pierre Dolbec began his new role as vice president of sales and procurement — commodities with Sherrington, Quebec-based Veg Pro International July 9.

Veg Pro has facilities in Sherrington, Quebec and Belle Glade, FL, where it processes and packages its specialties of baby lettuce and spinach among other fresh vegetables. The Veg Pro continuous production of spring mix and spinach are sold under the “Fresh Attitude” label.

Dominique Turcotte of LFL Transport and Pierre Dolbec, newly appointed vice president of sales and procurement — commodities of Veg Pro International at the QPMA golf tournament.“I am thrilled at the opportunity and the new challenge my role at Veg Pro International represents,” Mr. Dolbec said. “The role is a natural progression of the experience I’ve gained throughout various levels of the industry.”

“Veg Pro has grown tremendously and continues to do so,” he added. “The upper management is very dynamic and I have known and respected President and CEO Gerry Van Winden and Vice President of Operations Anthony Fantin for many years. The entire team works hard toward the goal of growing the company and wants to succeed, this was evident to me from the outside and now even more so. It’s a tremendous atmosphere and the role will be a good challenge.”

Mr. Dolbec is in charge of sales and product development on the commodity side and will be responsible for the team that manages commodities including carrots, onions, iceberg, red, green and Romaine lettuces, he said.

“The advantage we have at Veg Pro is the ability to offer daily deliveries throughout the East Coast,” he added. “We are also able to source products for customers that have a specific request beyond our own line. Customer service is one of my primary roles and ensuring that our customers remain satisfied and that all our products, even those we source meet our specs and quality standards.”

Mr. Dolbec mentioned that the company is seeing retailers reducing the size of deliveries and bringing in product “just in time.” He said this serves them well as they are “well-equipped” to offer “daily deliveries and a one-stop shop.”

Mr. Dolbec has worked in the produce industry nearly 35 years. He began his career with Provigo, prior to the Loblaw buyout, before joining the team at Sobeys/IGA as a head buyer and director of produce. Mr. Dolbec wanted to see what life was like on the other side of the equation and joined Hydroserre Mirabel Inc. where he spent eight years as the vice president of sales and marketing. Prior to joining Veg Pro International, Mr. Dolbec was in charge of business development and marketing for Les Jardins Paul Cousineau.