Joe Pezzini with Ocean Mist Farms

OCEAN MIST FARMS
ARTICHOKES

Joe Pezzini is the President and CEO of Ocean Mist Farms in Castroville, CA. Ocean Mist Farms is a 94-year-old grower-packer-shipper of artichokes and fresh vegetables in California, Arizona and Mexico. Joe was born and raised in Salinas and from a third-generation farming family. He attended Hartnell College before transferring to UC Davis, graduating with a B.S. in Agricultural Science and Management. He went on to earn a MBA from the Agribusiness Institute at the University of Santa Clara. After college, in 1983 Joe started with Boutonnet Farms as a farm manager, then becoming the managing partner for Valley Pride, a vegetable harvesting company in 1987. He became the Vice President of Operations for Ocean Mist Farms in 2001, responsible for Cooling Operations, Food Safety, R&D, Quality Assurance, Human Resources and Strategic Planning. In 2009, he become the Chief Operating Office and 2015 he was appointed President and CEO. Joe is a past Chairman of the Board of the Grower Shipper Association of Central California and past Chairman of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. He has served on other industry boards including; Grower-Shipper Association Foundation, Ag Against Hunger and the Produce Marketing Association.

He has also been honored with several awards, including the 2007 Agricultural Leader of the Year, the 2012 Valley of the World Ag Leader and 2018 Robert Carey Leadership Award.

Joe and his wife Mary have two grown children, David and Bess. Joe and Mary are avid gardeners, runners and share their home with a wide variety of animals including horses and peacocks.