Limoneira Company has appointed Ryan Young as EVP and chief operating officer, effective Nov. 9. Young will report to President and CEO Harold Edwards and lead the company’s farming and packing operations, technology, organic recycling, and residential and commercial real estate rental operations.
Young has spent more than 25 years in operations in fresh produce and food production. Most recently, he served as SVP of operations at Sun Pacific Shippers LP, a role he held beginning in 2023, overseeing eight packing, warehouse and distribution facilities in California’s San Joaquin Valley and more than 2,000 employees.
Before Sun Pacific, Young spent 15 years at Grimmway Enterprises, progressing from organic fresh manager to SVP of plant operations, where he held enterprise operating responsibility for five business divisions and nine production facilities and served on the executive leadership team. Earlier, he held production, warehouse and plant management roles at Wm. Bolthouse Farms Inc. Young holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural and managerial economics from the University of California, Davis, and serves on the board of California Citrus Mutual and on the California Kiwifruit Administrative Committee.
“Ryan has spent his career running large, multi-site fresh produce operations, from packing and distribution to food safety and quality systems,” said Harold Edwards, president and CEO of Limoneira. “That depth of operating experience will serve Limoneira well, and I look forward to working with him as we advance the company’s operating priorities of redeploying capital into higher-return opportunities across our core agribusiness and real estate platforms.”
“Limoneira has built a trusted name through generations of excellence in citrus, and the company is well positioned to grow its avocado business while continuing to strengthen its leadership in lemons through its strategic partnership with Sunkist,” Young said. “I am honored to join the team and look forward to working closely with colleagues across the organization to drive operational execution.”
Headquartered in Santa Paula, California, 133-year-old Limoneira is a diversified lemon and avocado growing and lemon packing company with 7,000 acres of agricultural land, real estate properties and water rights in California, Arizona and Argentina.