The United States Potato Board (USPB), the nation’s potato marketing organization and the central organizing force in implementing programs that will increase demand for potatoes, named produce industry veteran, Blair Richardson, as President/CEO, effective August 1, 2013.
Over the past four years, Richardson served as CEO for the combined entities of WesPak Sales, Inc., and Enns Packing, Inc., Dinuba, CA, as he assisted the owners of the 110-year-old business in a transition through their generational gap. Through that process, Richardson also facilitated a corporate merger/acquisition of the operations by a group, including the owners of Rivermaid Trading Company, in 2012.
During the spring/summer of 2013, Richardson then facilitated a second merger of operations between WesPak, Inc., and Precision Produce.
Born in Texas where his family has been involved in farming and ranching for many generations, dating back to the era when the region was still part of Mexico, Richardson attended Texas A&M University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics with a secondary focus on Business Administration and Finance.
Straight out of college in 1989, Richardson was recruited by Calcot, Ltd., the Bakersfield, CA, cotton marketing cooperative owned by select cotton producers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and among the nation’s largest cotton exporters and the nation’s largest supplier of strictly Far Western cottons. Richardson spent 10 years with Calcot, fulfilling a number of roles, including Director of Market and Economic Research and later as Director of International Sales.
A participant in the California Agriculture Leadership Program from 1999 through 2000, Richardson became Vice President, Sales and Business Development for AgEx (a division of Otis-McAlister, an international food and beverage trading company in San Francisco) from 2000 through 2002.
Richardson moved into the produce industry 11 years ago when he became president of the California Tree Fruit Agreement (CTFA) in 2002. After five years at CTFA, Richardson joined FreshSense where he was responsible for rebranding the Ripe n Ready™ brand and building a new eco-label for growers participating in a new sustainable farming certification program. The resulting Zeal™ brand launched successfully in 2008 and remains the leading brand in the marketplace for stone fruit and citrus produced under strict sustainable growing practices certified by Protected Harvest.
A founding member of the Coordinating Council for the Stewardship Index, which is working to develop a tool for all specialty agriculture farmers and companies to use for measuring sustainability, Richardson has served on numerous industry boards including the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) Financial Advisory Committee, the PBH Executive Committee, the Produce Marketing Association’s Foundation for Industry Talent, the California Minor Crops Council board, and others.
In 2005, Richardson was recognized as a leader in the produce industry when he received the Produce Business “40 Under 40” award for both the domestic and international categories.
Richardson lives on a cherry farm/horse ranch with his wife, Marti, and daughter, Bryce, located east of Fresno, CA, near the entrance to Sequoia National Park.
