8 Feb 2018

Fairtrade welcomes John Loughridge as Chief Value Officer

Fairtrade International is pleased to welcome John Loughridge as Chief Value Officer. John is the newest member of Fairtrade’s Global Leadership Team.

As Chief Value Officer, John is responsible for the design and implementation of strategies to streamline the Fairtrade value chain, increase our engagement with commercial partners, and mobilize consumers and civil society. He will work closely with Fairtrade's Producer Networks and National Fairtrade Organizations to develop strategies that complement our traditional commercial approach with ways of working that range from product labelling to enabling business engagement in programmes.

‘We are delighted to have John in the Fairtrade family,’ said Darío Soto Abril, Global CEO of Fairtrade. ‘John’s decades of experience in food-related sectors will be invaluable in helping Fairtrade expand its reach, fulfil its ambition to see small-scale farmers and workers earning a living income or living wage, increase sales on Fairtrade terms, and energize our base of supporters.’

John comes from a long family line of small farmers and has worked in the private farm-to-fork sector for most of his career. Prior to joining Fairtrade, he held managerial and commercial leadership positions with vertically integrated agricultural companies that include Pacific Foods (spices, flavours), Gilroy Foods (dehydrated onion, garlic, capsicums, parsley), Del Monte (fresh fruits and vegetables), Bunge (oilseeds, sugar, rice) and Naturipe (berries). During his career, John has built relationships at supermarket chains (Wal-Mart, Tesco, Carrefour, Ahold, Aldi, Kroger, Costco), food processors (Nestle, Unilever, Mars, Kraft Heinz, ConAgra, General Mills, Ajinomoto, Nissin) and food service companies (McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks, Wendy's, PF Chang's, Subway).

While at Del Monte, John was on the boards of the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association, Produce For Better Health, the International Banana Association, and the International Fresh-cut Produce Association. Then US Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman appointed him to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Fruits & Vegetables Industry Committee where he served a two year term.