Crema Of The Crop

She also works closely with grower associations in Mexico, discussing trends and keeping them apprised of changes within the U.S. industry. “My main goal is to ensure the flow of produce never stops,” she explains. “If there are new regulations or some kind of issue, we work to come up with solutions that make it as easy as possible for our members to import, promote, sell, and distribute their product.”

And while professional women populate the FPAA’s ranks, Felix admits she would like to see more women working in the industry. She points to one of her mentors, Ana Celaya, who started out in produce as a young sales director and went on to successful roles at Ciruli Brothers, LLC and Malena Produce, Inc.

“She’s one of the female pioneers in the produce industry,” Felix says. “She has amazing stories to tell about what she went through to achieve her professional goals, and what it was like to be a woman and a Latina in this industry decades ago.”

Sylvia Meléndez Klinger
Hispanic Food Communications, Inc.
A registered dietitian, Sylvia Meléndez Klinger has been working in nutrition for more than 30 years. For the past 14 years, the native Puerto Rican has run her own company as a nutritional and culinary consultant to the food industry, as well as the government, educational institutions, and the medical industry.

Her goal is to educate everyone about how to make better, healthier decisions at the supermarket and in the kitchen, but her particular focus is on Latinas. To this end, Meléndez Klinger advocates relentlessly for Latinas to get more involved with food and nutrition, both professionally and personally, since only 1 percent of Latinas in the United States are dietitians and nutritionists.

She also chairs a group, Latinas and Hispanics in Dietetics and Nutrition (part of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics), and actively mentors Latinas looking to advance in the profession.

In her experience, the biggest obstacle Latinas face in the industry is their own lack of self-confidence. Recalling her first big corporate job at Quaker Oats, Meléndez Klinger says it took awhile for her colleagues to take her seriously. “It wasn’t because I didn’t have the knowledge or the experience, it was because I’m only five-feet tall, I’m a Latina con curvas, and I have an accent,” she laughs. “I really had to pick my battles.”