Greg Smith joins Brooks Tropicals

Excerpts from an FruitNet article of 3/17/11 by Gill McShane

Florida-based tropical fruit importer-distributor welcomes new chief executive officer

Brooks Tropicals has announced in a press release the appointment of a new CEO with the addition of Greg Smith to the premier tropical produce team.

Mr Smith, who comes to Brooks Tropicals after 37 years at Coca-Cola, said he sees ‘tremendous opportunities” for the firm.

“We’re not far from being 100 years old and I think we’ll hit that benchmark with a widening footprint in papayas, Florida avocados, starfruit and more,” he explained.

“Our quality will make our brands – Caribbean Red papayas, SlimCado avocados and Caribbean Sunrise papayas – hard to beat.”

According to Mr Smith, Brooks Tropicals is a great operation with great people.

“I see myself getting passionate about both the business and the industry, but that will not be hard to do considering the Brooks name, the people and our position in the industry.”

With a background in operations, finance, auditing and procurement, Mr Smith hopes to support the team by initially focusing most of his efforts on the financial side of the house, while the Brooks team gets him up to speed on the field and packing operations along with the sales and marketing side of the firm.

“It’s invigorating,” said Neal “Pal” Brooks, president of Brooks Tropicals. “The company’s past has laid the foundation for a promising future. I believe Greg Smith can lead the company there.”

“Brooks Tropicals has the right people and the right products in place,” Mr Smith added. “Although the bar has been set high, I plan on making this a better company and a better place to work.”