Behind the Fruit - The Fresh Produce Leadership Podcast
Honest Conversations About Leadership in Fresh Produce
Behind the Fruit goes beyond the headlines and the industry panels. Each episode, Lucy Robinson sits down with a senior leader from across the global fresh produce sector for an honest conversation about their career, their leadership journey, and the decisions that shaped them.
The turning points, the hard calls, the lessons learned under pressure, the conversations that rarely happen on a panel stage or make it into a job description.
Behind the Fruit is for senior leaders and executives working in fresh produce, hiring managers building leadership teams, and ambitious professionals thinking seriously about their next move.
New episodes are released regularly on Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms.
Episodes
Episode 10 - Building a Produce Brand from Scratch with Nuria Pizan
Nuria Pizan spent years building SanLucar into one of the most recognisable brands in fresh produce. In this episode she shares what it really takes to build consumer trust in a commoditised category, why 70% of buying decisions happen at the point of sale, and the leadership lessons she learned managing a team of 25 across two countries. A must-listen for anyone working in fresh produce marketing, branding, or commercial leadership.
Episode 9 - From Desert Farms to Global Shelves with Arturo Hoffmann, Talsa Group
Arturo Hoffmann Harrison, Chief Commercial Officer of Talsa Group, takes us through his journey from agricultural engineering student in Chile to reshaping a multi-country Peruvian agribusiness for the next decade. He and Lucy discuss the thinking behind Talsa's vertical integration project Onesta, what European retailers are demanding today, and why attitude will always matter more than technical skills when building senior teams.
Episode 8 - Building, Losing, and Rebuilding: A CEO's Honest Story with Lennart van den Heuvel
Lennart van den Heuvel, CEO of Fruitful Ventures, shares one of the most candid conversations in the series - what happened when his business lost €100 million in turnover almost overnight, and what rebuilding from that taught him about resilience, leadership, and decision-making under pressure. He also talks openly about developing young talent and why character matters more than experience when building strong teams.
Episode 7 - How Equifruit Is Changing the Banana Industry with Kim Chackal
Kim Chackal, VP of Sales and Marketing and co-owner of Equifruit, shares how she built a Fair Trade banana brand in a category dominated by global players - and why a bold rebrand changed the trajectory of the business. The conversation covers shifting retailer behaviour, emotional intelligence in leadership, and why long hours are not a measure of success.
Episode 6 - Leadership Across Cultures: From Private Equity to Avocados with Patrick Hook
Patrick Hook, former CEO of AVO America, brings a rare perspective - a career spanning forestry, Harvard's natural resources portfolio, and operational leadership across Chile and Peru. He and Lucy explore what it means to lead when you're not the technical expert, why cultural intelligence determines whether agricultural assets succeed or struggle, and how hiring for mindset shapes everything that follows.
Episode 5 - 30 Years of Executive Hiring in FMCG and Fresh Produce with John Elliott
John Elliott, Founder of ELR Executive in Sydney, brings nearly three decades of executive search experience across FMCG, fresh produce, and food and beverage manufacturing. He and Lucy discuss how supply chain leadership has become mission-critical in fresh produce, what separates strong leaders from struggling ones, and how AI is reshaping executive search - and where human judgement remains irreplaceable.
Episode 4 - Leadership, Curiosity, and Building Strong Teams with Mark Brooks
Mark Brooks shares his non-traditional route to leadership and the values that have shaped his management style along the way. The conversation covers hiring for diversity and growth, the traits that matter most at senior level, how to assess curiosity in interviews, and why empowering others is at the heart of effective leadership in fresh produce.
Episode 3 - Passion, Growth, and Leading in Fresh Produce with Ele Gower
Ele Gower shares her journey through the fresh produce industry, including her experience working in Ethiopia and her role at One Acre Fund. She and Lucy discuss the challenges of career progression, what good growth really looks like, and why passion and resilience matter so much for the next generation of leaders in fresh produce.
Episode 2 - From Finance to Fresh Produce: Leadership in Transition with Jorge Reig
Jorge Reig discusses his career move from finance into fresh produce and the leadership skills that carried across. The conversation explores his experience as a managing director, the strategic and transformational work that defined his tenure, and his advice for future leaders navigating change and growth in the sector.
Episode 1 - Stepping Into the Top Job with CarrieAnn Arias
CarrieAnn Arias joins Lucy for an honest conversation about what really changes when you step up from VP to CEO - day to day, and in how you think about leadership. They discuss building trust and culture in remote teams, how leaders approach hiring and team development, and the role mentorship has played in CarrieAnn's career in fresh produce.
About Your Host
Lucy Robinson is the Founder of LCR International, a specialist executive search firm focused on senior and leadership hiring across the global fresh produce sector. Every day, Lucy speaks with boards, founders, and leadership teams navigating some of the most consequential hiring decisions in their organisations.
That perspective is what makes Behind the Fruit different. These are not interviews conducted from the outside looking in. Lucy brings the insight of someone who has spent years understanding what great leadership looks like in fresh produce - the careers, the turning points, and the qualities that separate good leaders from exceptional ones.
Behind the Fruit is the natural extension of those conversations, brought into the open.
Leadership in Practice
Every episode of Behind the Fruit is designed to leave you with something useful. Whether you are leading a team, building one, or thinking carefully about your next career move, each conversation offers honest perspective from someone who has been in the room.
Across the series you will hear senior leaders talk candidly about stepping into new roles, navigating uncertainty, hiring the right people, and building businesses that last. Real decisions, real consequences, and the lessons that came wityh them.
