California fruit giant CEO steps down amid ‘toxic’ – Business News
California berry giant Driscoll’s is shaking up its management as CEO Soren Bjorn steps down from the highest job amid a growing legal storm over allegations that its strawberries include poisonous “forever chemicals.”
Brie Reiter Smith, the company’s board vice chair and great-granddaughter of Driscoll’s co-founder, will take over efficient instantly, the Watsonville-based company introduced Tuesday.
“While I may not have followed the traditional path to this role, no one believes in our company’s mission more than me,” Smith mentioned. “The team Soren has assembled is the best we’ve had, which is a real testament to his leadership and vision.”
Brie Reiter Smith is pictured because the California fruit giant faces chaos after its CEO stepped down following ‘highly toxic’ and deception claims.
Bjorn, who joined Driscoll’s in 2006 and have become CEO in 2023, will stay with the company during the transition and help with key strategic priorities.
“We have had a lot of fun and been through plenty of challenges together,” Driscoll’s Executive Chair Miles Reiter mentioned of the outgoing CEO.
The management change comes as Driscoll’s faces a client fraud class-action lawsuit accusing the berry giant of misleading advertising and marketing over alleged pesticide and PFAS contamination in its strawberries.
The lawsuit, filed by six shoppers from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Illinois, claims laboratory testing of two containers of Driscoll’s strawberries discovered residues from 12 pesticides at ranges allegedly prohibited within the European Union and a number of other different international locations.
A California fruit giant is in chaos as its CEO steps down following ‘highly toxic’ and deception claims at 345 Westridge Dr in Watsonville, California.
Eight of the chemical compounds recognized within the testing had been described within the report as PFAS, a class of extremely persistent chemical compounds generally dubbed “forever chemicals.”
The allegations construct on a separate whistleblower grievance filed final month by David Harada, Driscoll’s former supervisor of food security and regulatory compliance for the US and Canada.
Harada claims he was wrongfully fired after raising issues that some growers had been allegedly violating state, federal and worldwide pesticide limits.
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According to courtroom paperwork reviewed by the California Post, Harada alleges that after warning executives about produce allegedly being bought or exported in violation of US and Canadian food-safety and pesticide legal guidelines, he was advised to prioritize earnings and create “plausible deniability” moderately than deal with the alleged violations.
The client lawsuit additionally accuses Driscoll’s of “greenwashing” by selling an environmentally pleasant image whereas allegedly failing to reveal the use of persistent chemical compounds.
Soren Bjorn, government vice president of Driscoll’s of America, speaks during an interview on the company’s headquarters in Watsonville, California, on Monday, September 19, 2016. Driscoll’s is drawing on its scientists to construct a system whose berries are at all times scrumptious, no matter the place they’re grown or bought. (Bloomberg) Bloomberg by way of Getty Images
The plaintiffs declare they relied on Driscoll’s branding and packaging, together with its “Only the Finest Berries” slogan, when shopping for the strawberries and wouldn’t have bought them — or would have paid much less — had they identified concerning the alleged PFAS-related compounds.
Driscoll’s has strongly rejected the accusations.
“We reject the allegations in this lawsuit and believe they are without merit,” the company beforehand advised The Post.
Now Smith, who has labored throughout the family-owned company for years, will take the reins.
She beforehand grew blueberries in Chile, oversaw high quality and product management throughout the Americas, and served as a director and vice chair of the board.
“The berries we put on tables around the world are the same berries I feed my three young daughters every day,” Smith mentioned within the announcement.
“I am honored to continue the tradition of positively impacting lives by operating with trustworthiness, passion and humility.”
Driscoll’s Executive Chair Miles Reiter praised Bjorn’s tenure, saying his “intelligence, strength of character and commitment” to the company’s mission had outlined his management.
The company didn’t say that Bjorn’s departure was linked to the lawsuits or the allegations towards Driscoll’s.
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