OUR CORPORATE TEAM

1991 – Present

US Army – May, 1968 – March, 1971 – served in Vietnam

Graduated Magna Cum Laude – UW – River Falls, WI  – May, 1974

Allan Vignieri started his career in the food industry as a company controller at the family meatpacking business, Kenosha Beef International, LTD.,  in May of 1974. Over time, he was promoted to corporate CFO and became a  member of the board of directors. As CFO and a corporate director, Allan was intimately involved in both day-to-day operations as well as long-term planning and strategy. During his time there, the company expanded sales by a factor of five, going from an annual volume of $50 million to $250 million with concomitant increases in employment and production facilities.

Allan left Kenosha Beef in December 1985 to pursue a career of market trading for his own account. As an astute day trader, Allan won a national trading contest sponsored by Barron’s magazine in the fall of 1986.  He continued to actively trade until 1988 when he was persuaded to return to Kenosha Beef.

Allan became interested in the apple industry in 1990 and in the spring of 1991, he purchased Sunset Orchard in Richland Center, WI with support from Kenosha Beef. He moved to Sunset Orchard in June of that same year and continues to live there today.

Sunset Orchard was a traditional apple growing and packing operation when purchased in 1991, with the bulk of its sales in the form of whole apples on a wholesale basis to supermarkets. Margins for the business were quite low, so Allan was on the lookout for non-traditional opportunities with the potential for better margins. In 1998, he became interested in the possibility of producing and selling fresh apple slices. The very first fresh sliced apples were produced in late 1999, and the product showed enough promise that a decision was made to continue developing that business.  

The goal was to expand its sales base to the point that all fruit grown at Sunset Orchard would be marketed in the form of fresh sliced apples. That production was and is marketed under the “Richland Hills Farms” label.

The business continued to grow and today the production of fresh sliced apples far exceeds the supply available at Sunset Orchard. The orchard has been on a program of expansion of its apple growing acreage in recent years.  The goal is to grow more raw material on site and save the cost and use of resources necessary to bring in apples from other locations. Allan continues to be involved in sliced apple production and orchard operations to this day.

2005-Present

Sarah is the daughter of Allan Vignieri. Brought into the family business in 2005 as a Sales Manager. Garnering 16 years of experience in Fresh Cut, Sarah has acquired extensive expertise in school lunch programs and is well versed on the intricacies of the USDA commodity supply program for that market.  Father and daughter have worked to grow the Sunset Orchard, Richland Hills Farms fresh cut product line across the Midwest.

2017-Present

Stefanie completed her  Bachelor of science degree from the University of WIsconsin  Stevens Point with a  major in dietetics. Born into a owned and operated family restaurant, she grew up supporting her family’s business and understands the challenges of running a small business.  In 1987 she started in the food brokerage business giving her the opportunity  to sell to all  segments of the food service industry.  In 1990 she was promoted to  “School Specialist”  and brings with her over thirty years of knowledge selling to  Child nutrition programs.  She fell in Love with the school food service and the  people who dedicate their lives to feeding children. She has a passion for fighting childhood hunger and is an advocate for all programs that help reduce food insecurity.