VALENCIA, CA & MIAMI, FL - After a long, fruitful, and innovative tenure with Sunkist Growers, Kevin Fiori has announced he will be leaving his position as Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Instead, he will begin his new venture with Miami, Florida-based floral company, Passion Growers. To fill the role left by Fiori, current Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer John Striff will be stepping up.

“It is with mixed emotions that I announce my decision to leave Sunkist Growers,” Fiori shared with the industry. “I joined Sunkist because I was drawn to the collaborative culture that makes the cooperative so special within our industry. I feel fortunate to have worked at Sunkist for the past seven and a half years. We accomplished many great things together.” 

Fiori also noted that he has no doubts that Sunkist will continue to do very well under the leadership of President and CEO Russ Hanlin, and the organization’s incredible, talented, and dedicated people.

“Working with Sunkist for over seven years, Kevin has done outstanding work on behalf of the cooperative,” added Hanlin. “However, the opportunity for him and his wife to be close to his two boys and three grandchildren was impossible to resist. We will miss him greatly, both personally and professionally.”

He continued, “While he will be greatly missed, we are fortunate to have a talented executive like John Striff to assume this role. John has been instrumental to many important initiatives throughout the cooperative and we are excited for him to bring his leadership and experience to another area our organization.”

Striff has worked in the Sunkist system since 2003, first at Sunkist-affiliated cooperative Fruit Growers Supply Company (FGS)  and then at Sunkist Growers. He served as Chief Financial Officer for both organizations, and was promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 2015.

Fiori's new journey with Passion Growers is one that is perfect for him in his personal and professional life, he says. He will be now be able relocate closer to his children and grandchildren.

“I’ve been offered an amazing opportunity to work with Jaime and Cheryl Peisach and the entire team at Passion Growers,” Fiori continued. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for and look forward to working with Jaime Peisach, Cheryl Peisach, Sam Ferrara, Ben Pauley, Eugenia Barth, Moises Croitoru and others at Passion, many of whom I’ve worked with in the past. As a company, Passion values people, is dedicated to impeccable customer service, and invests in infrastructure to produce the highest quality flowers available.”

Jaime Peisach, Owner of Passion Growers commented on his excitement to have Fiori join the team.

“We’ve known Kevin for over 15 years and we know he shares our core values,” Peisach explained. “Our culture is built on teamwork, integrity and a system-wide dedication to customer satisfaction. The past working relationships and mutual respect between Kevin, Sam, Ben, Eugenia, Moises and other members of Passion makes this a great fit. The ultimate objective of this move is to expand our individualized products and services to our valued customers. We are committed to earning our customers’ business everyday by providing the highest quality flowers and best customer service available in the industry.”

With plans to depart Sunkist in June, a press release states, Fiori will be working closely with Sunkist staff until then to ensure a smooth transition.

Our CEO Robert Lambert and the rest of the AndNowUKnow team would like to congratulate Kevin Fiori on his successful career at Sunkist, and wish him the best of luck as he transitions to Passion Growers. Looking forward to seeing what’s next!

Sunkist Growers Passion Growers