Obregon to expand HAB's Network Marketing Center
Obregon to expand HAB's Network Marketing Center
Veteran international produce distribution and marketing executive Jose Luis Obregon has become the first managing director of the Hass Avocado Board's pioneering Network Marketing Center.
Mr. Obregon was appointed based on his extensive international marketing experience, a requisite for expanding the reach of the boards state-of-the-art NMC and its intranet site, avoHQ.com. The center provides in-depth and timely information on crop volume, shipments, markets and promotions accessible from anywhere in the world.
A bilingual Mexican citizen, Mr. Obregon is also fluent in the business practices and culture of Chile. The two countries represent the largest exporters of Hass avocados to the United States.
"Our Network Marketing Center permits access to information and practical marketing tools unprecedented in the produce business," said Charley Wolk, chairman of the Hass Avocado Board, which is based in Irvine, CA. The next step, which Jose Luis will accomplish, is to increase the effective use of the NMC and avoHQ.com in the U.S. produce trade and around the world.
Mr. Obregon will take the NMC message on the road, traveling extensively to other participating Hass-producing countries exporting to the United States, including the Dominican Republic and New Zealand. He will communicate how industry members can utilize the NMC and avoHQ.com in their own businesses and gain feedback important to fine tuning the systems capabilities.
The resources the Hass Avocado Board has invested in the NMC and avoHQ.com are well beyond any I have seen in the produce business, Mr. Obregon said. My mission is to promote the NMC as an essential tool that suppliers can use to expand consumption across America. There is tremendous potential to create value starting at the grove and ending on the dinner table.
According to HAB Administrator Tom Bellamore, annual Hass avocado shipments totaled less that 500 million pounds a few short years ago, but are now approaching 1 billion pounds.
Our strategic response has been to create marketing plans and platforms that unify worldwide growers to expand demand for this great product, Mr. Bellamore said. Thats why the NMC and avoHQ.com are so critical to our future.
Mr. Obregon joins the HAB team after two years as deputy director of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas in Nogales, AZ, the trade association which represents U.S. companies importing Mexican fresh fruits and vegetables.
Prior to that, Mr. Obregon worked for Mission Produce in Oxnard, CA, where he handled international export sales to Asia, Europe and North America, and coordinated sourcing from Chile, Brazil, Peru, New Zealand and Mexico. He also served as a strategic planning analyst for Cemex S.A., an industrial giant in Mexico.
Mr. Obregon holds an MBA from the University of Arizona and a bachelors degree in accounting from the Instituto Technologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterey.
Mr. Obregon was appointed based on his extensive international marketing experience, a requisite for expanding the reach of the boards state-of-the-art NMC and its intranet site, avoHQ.com. The center provides in-depth and timely information on crop volume, shipments, markets and promotions accessible from anywhere in the world.
A bilingual Mexican citizen, Mr. Obregon is also fluent in the business practices and culture of Chile. The two countries represent the largest exporters of Hass avocados to the United States.
"Our Network Marketing Center permits access to information and practical marketing tools unprecedented in the produce business," said Charley Wolk, chairman of the Hass Avocado Board, which is based in Irvine, CA. The next step, which Jose Luis will accomplish, is to increase the effective use of the NMC and avoHQ.com in the U.S. produce trade and around the world.
Mr. Obregon will take the NMC message on the road, traveling extensively to other participating Hass-producing countries exporting to the United States, including the Dominican Republic and New Zealand. He will communicate how industry members can utilize the NMC and avoHQ.com in their own businesses and gain feedback important to fine tuning the systems capabilities.
The resources the Hass Avocado Board has invested in the NMC and avoHQ.com are well beyond any I have seen in the produce business, Mr. Obregon said. My mission is to promote the NMC as an essential tool that suppliers can use to expand consumption across America. There is tremendous potential to create value starting at the grove and ending on the dinner table.
According to HAB Administrator Tom Bellamore, annual Hass avocado shipments totaled less that 500 million pounds a few short years ago, but are now approaching 1 billion pounds.
Our strategic response has been to create marketing plans and platforms that unify worldwide growers to expand demand for this great product, Mr. Bellamore said. Thats why the NMC and avoHQ.com are so critical to our future.
Mr. Obregon joins the HAB team after two years as deputy director of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas in Nogales, AZ, the trade association which represents U.S. companies importing Mexican fresh fruits and vegetables.
Prior to that, Mr. Obregon worked for Mission Produce in Oxnard, CA, where he handled international export sales to Asia, Europe and North America, and coordinated sourcing from Chile, Brazil, Peru, New Zealand and Mexico. He also served as a strategic planning analyst for Cemex S.A., an industrial giant in Mexico.
Mr. Obregon holds an MBA from the University of Arizona and a bachelors degree in accounting from the Instituto Technologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterey.
