Steve Peirce, consultant to CAC, has died
Steve Peirce, consultant to CAC, has died
Steve Peirce, founder of Avocado Marketing Services Inc. and for the last 11 years a consultant to the California Avocado Commission, died suddenly Wednesday, Nov. 22, of a heart attack at his home in Lake Elsinore, CA. He was 55 years old.
Born in Madison, WI, in 1950, Mr. Peirce began working in the California avocado industry in the 1970s. He worked for Cal Flavor and Sun World before being hired by Calavo in the mid-1980s. He became Calavo's lead field representative before leaving the company in 1994 to start his own consulting business, Avocado Marketing Services Inc., with his wife, Barbara.
Mr. Peirce began consulting for the commission in 1995. According to a written statement from the commission, "His dedication to the industry and rock-solid reliability soon made him an indispensable contributor" to various commission programs, and his contributions to the California avocado industry "are immeasurable."
Guy Whitney, CAC's director of industry affairs, told The Produce News that he regarded Mr. Peirce as both his "right-hand man" and his mentor. "He and I put on countless grower meetings," Mr. Whitney said.
"He was one of the most reliable people that I have come across in the industry in terms of his dedication and his commitment," Mr. Whitney continued. "He was loved by everyone in the industry. He was so humble, yet at the same time very firm when he needed to be firm -- when he was confident of what was right for the industry."
Mr. Whitney highlighted some of Mr. Peirce's numerous contributions to the industry. "He started ... doing the crop estimates and field verification of crop estimate surveys" and then "expanded his responsibilities with us to doing daily market analysis as well as bin inventories and movements throughout the industry, which gave us a much better idea of how the harvest velocity and the fruit movement was going at any time during the season and helped us plan marketing activities and promotions."
Mr. Peirce also "became an incredible resource for the commission with respect to the federal crop insurance program," and was instrumental in "getting the pilot insurance program in place for the industry which we have had for almost a decade now," said Mr. Whitney.
When the industry suffered severe pest invasions, "Steve was the point man in conducting the field trials to find products to use to combat these pest invasions" and in securing the registrations needed for what "turned out to be the best, most pest-specific, softest chemistries. He developed really good relationships with ... state and federal regulatory agencies that work on pesticide registrations. Through that relationship, we were successful in getting critical materials to combat ... pests that would [otherwise] have put much of our industry out of business."
Mr. Peirce "always stepped forward when the industry had specific emergencies or other special needs, including coordinating pest quarantine activities impacting local avocado growers," according to the commission statement.
Mr. Peirce is survived by his wife, Barbara, who will be carrying on the business and will continue to provide services to the commission; a daughter, Jessica; a son, Ryan; and three grandchildren.
Born in Madison, WI, in 1950, Mr. Peirce began working in the California avocado industry in the 1970s. He worked for Cal Flavor and Sun World before being hired by Calavo in the mid-1980s. He became Calavo's lead field representative before leaving the company in 1994 to start his own consulting business, Avocado Marketing Services Inc., with his wife, Barbara.
Mr. Peirce began consulting for the commission in 1995. According to a written statement from the commission, "His dedication to the industry and rock-solid reliability soon made him an indispensable contributor" to various commission programs, and his contributions to the California avocado industry "are immeasurable."
Guy Whitney, CAC's director of industry affairs, told The Produce News that he regarded Mr. Peirce as both his "right-hand man" and his mentor. "He and I put on countless grower meetings," Mr. Whitney said.
"He was one of the most reliable people that I have come across in the industry in terms of his dedication and his commitment," Mr. Whitney continued. "He was loved by everyone in the industry. He was so humble, yet at the same time very firm when he needed to be firm -- when he was confident of what was right for the industry."
Mr. Whitney highlighted some of Mr. Peirce's numerous contributions to the industry. "He started ... doing the crop estimates and field verification of crop estimate surveys" and then "expanded his responsibilities with us to doing daily market analysis as well as bin inventories and movements throughout the industry, which gave us a much better idea of how the harvest velocity and the fruit movement was going at any time during the season and helped us plan marketing activities and promotions."
Mr. Peirce also "became an incredible resource for the commission with respect to the federal crop insurance program," and was instrumental in "getting the pilot insurance program in place for the industry which we have had for almost a decade now," said Mr. Whitney.
When the industry suffered severe pest invasions, "Steve was the point man in conducting the field trials to find products to use to combat these pest invasions" and in securing the registrations needed for what "turned out to be the best, most pest-specific, softest chemistries. He developed really good relationships with ... state and federal regulatory agencies that work on pesticide registrations. Through that relationship, we were successful in getting critical materials to combat ... pests that would [otherwise] have put much of our industry out of business."
Mr. Peirce "always stepped forward when the industry had specific emergencies or other special needs, including coordinating pest quarantine activities impacting local avocado growers," according to the commission statement.
Mr. Peirce is survived by his wife, Barbara, who will be carrying on the business and will continue to provide services to the commission; a daughter, Jessica; a son, Ryan; and three grandchildren.
