Church Brothers Farms Rehires Industry Veteran

Church Brothers Farms, a grower-owned processor/shipper of fresh vegetables and salads, has announced the return of Ernst van Eeghen to the company as vice president of business development.

Van Eeghen was previously with the company as the director of marketing and product development from 2007 to 2014. After leaving Church Brothers, he was director of sales and marketing at Germains Seed Technology in Gilroy, Calif., and director of marketing at Twang Partners in San Antonio, Texas.  He was also previously employed by Mann Packing.

As vice president of business development van Eeghen is responsible for building business relationships with new and existing customers in the U.S. and Canada.  He works in the Salinas, Calif., office and reports to Jeff Church, vice president of sales.

"I'm thrilled with the opportunity to rejoin this great company and it feels like coming home,” says van Eeghen. “I'm looking forward to driving the business forward under the leadership and vision of Brian and Jeff Church."

In addition, the company hired Mark Zahnlecker, who was previously at IPG and Sebastian Pagano both in general sales roles. Chuck Church, son of Steve Church transitioned from the marketing department to the sales department and is handling a range of accounts in the new role. 

“As we continue to grow our company we have to grow our talent,” says Church. “We’re very excited to strengthen our sales staff with these new hires as we move into the second half of the year.”