LORRI KOSTER

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About

Lorri A. Koster is Chairman, CEO and a primary shareholder of Mann Packing Company; a grower, shipper, processor of fresh vegetables headquartered in California’s Salinas Valley. Mann Packing is certified as a women’s business enterprise through the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nation’s largest third party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the US. Lorri was raised in the agricultural industry and is the third generation of her family to work in produce. She started her full time career at Mann in 1990. During this tenure, Lorri directed the firm’s marketing and communication programs. In 2000 Lorri left Mann to join ProduceOnline.com as vice president of marketing. After their acquisition by World Commerce Online, Lorri resigned to accept an associate publisher position with Produce Business magazine. After several years of writing, raising two young boys and working for Mann on a consulting basis, she returned to the company full time in 2006 to represent her family’s interest and lead the business development, marketing and product innovation efforts. Lorri has participated on numerous committees for the Produce Marketing Association, the United Fresh Produce Association, Western Growers and the Grower Shipper Association of Central California. She was a member of both the board and executive committee of the Produce for Better Health Foundation. In 2000 Lorri was president of the board of directors of the International Fresh Cut Produce Association, being the first woman to chair an American produce trade association. She is a past chairman of the Grower Shipper Association of Central California where she became the second woman to hold the position and represented the first father-daughter and third generation chairmanship as her father was at the helm of the association in 1983 and her great uncle, Art Sbrana, in 1936. In 2005 Koster was named one of the industry’s top 40 produce professionals under the age of 40 by Produce Business magazine. In 2009 she was asked to keynote and was given an award of excellence at the United Fresh Produce Association’s Women in Produce event. In 2011 she was named one of the industry’s “Top 25” by trade publication THE PACKER. Progressive Grocer magazine named her one of the Top 100 Women in Grocery in 2011. In 2013 THE PACKER named Koster Produce Marketer of the Year, making her a second generation recipient as her father earned the distinction in 1983. Currently Lorri serves as a board alternate for the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement and the Western Growers Association. She is a past director and officer of the United Fresh Produce Association where she was an advocate for creating more access to fruits and vegetables in schools and federally funded feeding programs. She currently serves as an appointee on the USDA’s fruit and vegetable advisory committee. On a local level, Lorri is a graduate of Leadership Salinas Valley and was named Outstanding Young Farmer by the Salinas Jaycees in 1994 and Outstanding Young Citizen in 2005. In 2006 she was named an Outstanding Young Californian by the California Junior Chamber of Commerce and Ag Woman of the Year by Salinas-based non-profit Ag Against Hunger. Lorri is a trustee for the Panetta Institute and the Big Sur Land Trust. Lorri serves on the board of the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership. Lorri is a board director for Rancho Cielo, a local non-profit addressing workforce development needs for troubled youth . Lorri also serves on the board of The First Tee Program for Monterey County and is a member of the Business Advisory Council for CSU, Monterey Bay’s School of Business. In November of 2015 the Center for Community Advocacy awarded Lorri their Ben Heller Award in honor of her advocacy for farm workers. Lorri has a Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations with a minor in business marketing from California State University, Chico. A “Forty Niner Faithful” she resides in Salinas with her husband Tom where she loves cheering on their two boys, Jack and Sam.

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