THE VANGUARD INTERNATIONAL GROUP APPOINTS CURT MCDONALD TO VANGUARD PRIDE

New Director of Facilities role to complement Washington Farming Operations

Issaquah, WA – December 7, 2017 – The Vanguard International Group has announced that Curt McDonald has joined the team at Vanguard Pride in Wapato, Washington in the newly created role of Director of Facilities.  Working alongside Brett Calhoun, Vanguard Pride’s General Manager and Vice President of Washington Farming Operations, Curt brings over 25 years’ experience in Washington State’s fruit industry to the Vanguard Pride team.

“We have world-class apples, pears, cherries, and stone fruit in our orchards that are given a tremendous amount of care and attention to grow, and we know that with Curt’s leadership in the warehouse that the same care and attention will be brought to bringing these outstanding fruits from our farms to our packing house to our customers’ store shelves,” said Craig Stauffer, CEO Vanguard.  “We are thrilled that Curt has joined our Vanguard Pride team.”

Curt joins Vanguard Pride from Hansen Fruit Company where he was responsible for all receiving, cold storage and controlled-atmosphere, packing and shipping operations, as well as packaging procurement and inventory management.

“Curt has proven to be successful and brings valued expertise and a committed team-focused work-ethic to our facility and our team,” said Brett Calhoun, General Manager and Vice President of Washington Farming Operations, Vanguard Pride.

About Vanguard International

Founded in 1991, Vanguard is a leading global vertically-integrated fresh fruit growing, packing, marketing, and sales organization headquartered in Issaquah, Washington, USA, with branch offices in Wapato, Washington; Bakersfield, California; Lima, Peru; Ica, Peru: Santiago, Chile; Stellenbosch, South Africa; Shanghai, China; Taipei, Taiwan; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Madrid, Spain.

www.vanguardfresh.com

About Vanguard Pride

Founded in 1972 by Ernest Spada, Sr. and headquartered in Wapato, Washington, Pride Packing began its foray into this business by growing apples and pears.  Shortly thereafter, Pride diversified into apricots, peaches, nectarines, and cherries.  They soon became the largest stonefruit grower in Washington State. Pride is a leader in the Washington tree fruit growing industry and passionate about growing and supplying high-quality, food-safety assured products worldwide.