VALENCIA, CA - Growing sales is a common thread woven through all sectors of the industry, be it the buy-side or the supply-side. And behind each effort toward growth stands a team who drives it. Sunkist Growers aims to improve its service to customers, and recently made some changes to its Sales Team to do so. Jeff Gaston was promoted to Managing Director of North American Sales, while Brian Slagel will take on his former role of Director of Southeastern Sales. The company also announced that Timothy Forseth will be joining the Sales Team as Director of Western Sales.

“Sunkist is a name that means great quality citrus to so many people around the world,” said Christian Harris, Chief Operations Officer. “As the longest-standing cooperative in the nation, we strive to deliver innovation and provide strategic solutions to our customer, all while offering the highest quality of fruit to their customers and driving consumption of citrus. Our people are one of our greatest assets in being able to support that every day.”

According to a news release, Gaston will oversee domestic sales in hopes of growing and strengthening existing relations with key customers, while identifying new opportunities across the cooperative. He initially began at Sunkist as a Sales Representative in Vancouver, BC in 1999, and prior to his new position, Jeff served in a leadership role as the Director of Western Sales.

Forseth will step into Gaston’s previous position as Director of Western Sales effective October 14. Prior to joining the Sunkist team, Forseth served as a key Account Manager at Robinson Fresh, where he oversaw a variety of accounts. In addition, he was on the Board of Directors for the Southeast Produce Council from 2013 to 2017.

“Tim brings great energy to the Sunkist Sales Team, along with two decades of produce sales experience,” said Gaston. “We take pride in our high-quality service to our customers, and Tim gets it. He has developed strong customer relationships and understands the sales process. We know Tim will bring some new perspectives and skills to our sales team.”

In the center of the Sunkist sales revitalization is the promotion of Brian Slagel to Director of Southeast and Canada Sales. Slagel has been an integral part of the team for more than 25 years and has shaped much of the way Sunkist plans to grow, developing an approach to bring sales, retail marketing, and category management together.

“Sunkist remains a dominant provider of citrus, and we have the opportunity to double down on our marketing and category management support,” Harris added. “We continue to invest in our talent and put additional resources in place to support our customers in all areas of our business.”

Congratulations to these three sales experts on their new positions!

Sunkist Growers