VANCOUVER, BC - Oppy has strengthened its sales squad in the U.S.’s western region with the shifting of three experienced employees. The company named Jose Mendoza, Jim Leach, and Mario Illiano as sales representatives in Los Angeles and Seattle, bringing their knowledge of the company and its initiatives to their new respective positions.

“With these changes, we’ve strengthened our sales team’s front line with enhanced transportation, marketing, and product expertise,” summarized Walt Breeden, Vice President of Canadian and West Coast U.S. Sales. “We believe it’s really important to develop talent within Oppy, and these three young professionals have shown that they have what takes to succeed in the next step in their careers. All three have a deep understanding of our business, our categories, and our customers’ needs. It’s exciting to cultivate the next generation of Oppy salespeople as we work toward our overall goals.”

Jim and Jose are based in Oppy’s Los Angeles-area office, with both having received their sales representative appointments earlier this month.

Jim, who joined Oppy as a business development representative in Autumn of 2016, distinguished himself quickly as a hard working team player according to Breeden, who said that his effective promotional programs and responsiveness to customer needs consistently drove solid sales across Oppy’s product lines.

Jose’s background with the company spans both logistics and sales, having joined its logistics arm David Oppenheimer Transport in early 2010. He moved up the ranks from his start as a transportation assistant to coordinator before transferring to Oppy’s LA sales team in 2014. There, Breeden said, he supports the group’s efforts in a sales assistant role with invaluable knowledge and energy

Mario is part of the Seattle, Washington, sales team. Moving up to his current position in June, he originally joined the company as a sales and marketing intern in 2012. He was promoted to sales assistant in May of 2013, relocating 18 months later from the marketer’s Newark, Delaware, office to Seattle. In the Washington office he has where he supported sales and built relationships with regional customers, as well as having played key roles in optimizing sales for Oppy’s exclusive Ocean Spray cranberry and Orchard View cherry programs nationwide.

The company expressed faith that, with the expertise earned in their previous roles, all three will be able to add value throughout the supply chain through their focus on developing and sustaining sales of Oppy’s full product range.

Congratulations to Jim, Jose, and Mario on this latest step in your produce careers.

Oppy