James Hideo Iwamoto, a long time Los Angeles produce wholesaler, died on Dec. 5, after a short battle with COVID-19. He was 68.

Mr. Iwamoto was the son of Jimmie Iwamoto, a longtime produce buyer for the Vons supermarket chain when it was independent, and the father of Jimmy Iwamoto, who has also spent his career on the wholesale produce market, currently working for Valley Fruit & Produce Co.

Greenyard USA/Seald Sweet kicked off 2021 welcoming Amy Gates as vice president. Gates has been in the produce business for over 21 years and initially will focus on implementing a new ERP and WMS computer systems (given her IT experience) and then will be very active in all facets of the business going forward.

Markon, whose reputation is built upon its dedication to food safety, hired Kate Burr as its new food-safety director.

The Allen Lund Co. announced the promotion of Keith Curtis to the position of IT director; Jill Smith will take over his former role of manager of integrations. In this role, Curtis will take on the direct oversight of systems, integrations and desktop support groups. He will continue to work closely with the company's IT teams.

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas hired Andrea Ortega as its communications coordinator.

Limoneira Co., a diversified citrus growing, packing, selling and marketing company with related agribusiness activities and real estate development operations,  announced organizational changes to its marketing department.

John Chamberlain, who served the company for over 15 years, in his most recent role as vice president of marketing, retired Dec. 30. “We express our collective gratitude to John Chamberlain for his years of marketing leadership and dedicated service to Limoneira,” said Harold Edwards, Limoneira president and CEO.