Pandol Bros. selects Ballantine exec to succeed Breech as president,CEO
BY DON SCHRACK Staff Writer - "The Packer August 13, 2007"

   DELANO, Calif. - David Dever will become the second person to hold the title of president and chief executive officer at Pandol Bros. Inc.. He will succeed Jack Breech, who announced his retirement in April, on Sept. 4. Dever, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Ballantine Produce Co. Inc., Sanger, the past five years, said Pandol's table grape inventory could expand. "We will be investigating other commodities," Dever said. "I envision expanding, which means we need to be a year-round, full-service supplier to the consumer." In some respects, that's revisiting past company practices.

   "I think we're taking a fresh approach that perhaps includes complementary ideas," said John Pandol, chief of Mexican operations for Pandol Bros. He said that beginning in the 1960s the company grew and marketed vegetables for three decades but refocused on table grapes in the 1990s. "We understand the industry changes, and we must be prepared to recognize the changing nature of the customer base," Pandol said.

   Dever said he sees growth potential for Pandol Bros. in domestic and export markets. China and India could become major customers, he said. On the domestic front, Dever said he believes the role of the grower-shipper must expand. "Retailers are spread so thin today that we must develop services to help the retailers," he said. "We could and should differentiate our products so that those who want the best of the best produce can get the best of the best produce." Among those services designed to assist retailers is helping educate the consumer, which requires retailers to work with grower-shippers. Dever said he would like to build stronger relationships for direct business. Dever's domestic focus will not be limited to retail markets. "Foodservice is on my list," he said.

   Dever shares with Breech a background as a certified public accountant, a skill Pandol said was an asset. "He has the awareness of the bigger commercial world but with that manager's CPA skill set that will go back and rationalize it," he said. Dever said Breech left big shoes to fill but that he believed he was up to the challenge. "The company has dealt very well with issues in recent years," he said. Changes that could come in the near future, Dever said, included a higher level of involvement in organic produce. Also, there are some new table grape varieties the company will be looking at seriously.

   Before working at Ballantine Produce, Dever, 51, was a vice president for 10 years at Gerawan Farming & Cold Storage, Reedley.
   Breech, 57, had been with Pandol Bros. for 25 years. In 2001, he became the first to hold the newly created position of president and chief executive officer.