Rich Dachman is the Chief Executive Officer of Brighter Bites. Rich comes to Brighter Bites with more than 40 years of experience in the produce industry, 28 of them at Sysco, the world’s largest broadline food distributor. He retired from Sysco last month as Vice President of Produce for the global company. He had been a member of the Brighter Bites Board of Directors for more than three years.

A Denver native, Rich attend Colorado State University and began his produce career there with his family-owned business. Following the sale of the family business, he and his father opened a new foodservice operation in Denver for Kraft Foods, Inc. before Rich joined Kraft’s corporate office in Chicago as National Director of Produce in 1987.

In 1992, he joined FreshPoint Inc. and was President of FreshPoint Operating Companies in Houston, Denver, Atlanta and the Company’s central procurement office in Salinas, California. When Sysco acquired FreshPoint in 2000, Rich was appointed to the position of Senior Vice President, Western Region, and in 2007 was promoted to Vice President of Produce for Sysco Corporation.

Rich has received multiple awards, including The Packer’s Foodservice Achievement Award, the Center for Growing Talent’s Jay Pack Cultivating Our Future Award, and Produce for Better Health’s Excellence Award. Rich was Chairman of the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) in 2012, capping more than 10 years of leadership service for PMA.