Fresh food is big business—and offering consumers the freshest options takes special know-how. For more than 30 years, Riteway Sales and Marketing, based in Lakeland, Fla., has established itself as the right choice for the marketplace with a dedication to being the most highly focused sales and service agency. Riteway is pleased to announce the launching of Riteway Fresh, its new fresh division targeting the Southeast market.

“We are excited to take the Riteway know-how and approach into the fresh market,” said Jim Hall, president of Riteway. “We are also pleased that Don Bishop has joined our team of professionals to lead and develop our Riteway Fresh division.”

Bishop’s 30-year background with the Del Monte Corp. spanned all areas of perishable sales from regional sales manager, director of national accounts to vice president of Eastern region.

“Don’s produce knowledge from the farm to the store to the table and his passion for sales make him the perfect person to lead Riteway Fresh,” Hall said. “We look forward to working with Don building another successful sales organization supporting our Southeast retailers.”

Don Bishop assumes the role of director of Riteway’s Fresh division. Bishop’s experience on the produce side of the consumer package goods and fresh produce industry made him the lead contender for the task. After working in the Northeast and Canada, Bishop returned to Florida to work with a Tampa-based produce marketer. For the past two decades, he has been the president of Tampa-based Bishop Targeted Marketing Inc. He is a graduate of Florida State University.  

“I am excited about combining my business with Riteway Sales and Marketing to form Riteway Fresh,” he said. “The combination offers our customers sales professionalism, outstanding support services in the form of a high quality, professional retail sales force and the backing of one of the best grocery sales data resources in the industry. The newly formed Riteway Fresh combines to offer one of the most powerful fresh sales programs in the Southeast.”

Riteway was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Lakeland, Florida, with additional divisional offices in Jacksonville, Florida; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia. Jim Hall, assisted by the management team of Bobby McQueen and Mike Rowan, leads Riteway. The company covers the Southeastern U.S. markets, including Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana and focuses on the Perishable, Non-Perishable and Non-Food divisions of its customers.