Crema Of The Crop

When it comes to the working world, there is little doubt women are flexing their muscles. More women than ever before are working outside the home, and statistics say they will soon outnumber their male counterparts. Latinas figure prominently among these working women, and by 2013, one of every ten women-owned businesses in the United States was owned by a Latina. 

Breaking The Glass Ceiling
A strong work ethic and drive to succeed is nothing new to women in general, or Latinas in particular. Hispanic women have ignored barriers and broken glass ceilings since before Ileana Ros-Lehtinen became the first Hispanic woman in Congress in 1989, Sonia Sotomayor was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009, or Susana Martinez became governor of New Mexico in 2010.

Women, Latinas and non-Latinas alike, are entering the work force at an unprecedented rate. They’re embracing higher education—from college to graduate school—more enthusiastically and more frequently than men, they control half the wealth in the United States, and their entrepreneurial inclinations have increasingly dominated the business landscape. 

An Evolving Industry
Like most of corporate America, the fresh produce and foodservice industries have long been dominated by men. Although a few pioneering women made their mark early, the landscape has been slow to change, but many women—eager to innovate and achieve—have continued to join the ranks.

Organizations, associations, and leadership groups that bring women together and foster support have also sprung up; both United Fresh Produce Association and Produce Marketing Association have popular women’s events, while Latinas are also actively courted by the National Hispanic Leadership Institute and Mujeres Latinas en Acción.

All in all, it’s a good time to be a woman in corporate America, and Latinas in particular are making an impact within the fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain. Here’s a look at a few Latinas who are helping change the face of the produce industry.

Six Perspectives
Cristina López,
Alamo Produce LLC
As general manager of Los Angeles, CA-based Alamo Produce LLC, Cristina López oversees imports, sales, logistics, marketing, inventory, accounts payable and receivable—pretty much anything, as she puts it, that the company needs to grow.