Santa Paula-based avocado company Calavo Growers has announced the appointment of Mariela Matute as its chief financial officer, effective Oct. 11.
Matute was the director and chief financial officer for Amazon Business prior to her appointment. In the business-to-business online procurement division of Amazon.com Inc., she managed a 70-person team.
Matute’s experience in finance, food production and agriculture qualifies her for the new role, according to Calavo Growers Chief Executive Steven Hollister.
“In addition, she also has deep experience and exposure to Mexico and Latin America, having served as CFO of Driscoll’s Americas region, which spanned from Canada to Chile. Her broad skill set will benefit the company and all its many stakeholders,” Hollister said in a statement.
Matute will transition to her new job as Interim Chief Financial Officer Farha Aslam will step down from the position and return to her role as independent director on Calavo’s board.
“I am thrilled to step into the CFO role at Calavo and to help the company execute its strategic plan, accelerate its profitable growth and deliver shareholder value,” Matute said in a statement. “I look forward to partnering with the entire Calavo team to build on the company’s strong foundation.”
Shares of Calavo Growers (CVGW) closed up $1.74, or nearly 5 percent, to $36.60 on the Nasdaq on Thursday, a day when the market closed up a fraction of a percent.
