Danny Mandel

Education
B.S., Western Michigan University

Biography
Born and raised in New York City, Danny’s family moved to South Florida for his high school years.

After working as a civilian in the Air Force (Supply Cataloguer) and then for the 9th Circuit Court in Kalamazoo, Michigan, conducting pre-sentence investigations with sentencing recommendations on convicted felons for three years, Danny decided to learn the family produce business, relocating to Pompano Beach, Florida in 1980. Continuing to pursue his education hands-on, he relocated to Nogales/Rio Rico, Arizona in 1982.

In 1985, Danny established Mandel Produce Company with Dan Kerrigan. An acquisition of assets was offered by AmeriFresh, Seattle, Washington in 1988. Danny worked with AmeriFresh for the following five years. In 1993, he co-founded the company that is now SunFed. For the last 30 years, Danny has been a leading voice in the U.S. fresh produce community, having pioneered many novel disciplines to eliminate waste from the fresh produce supply chain. His enterprise (SunFed) was established across Mexico, insuring year-round supply of fresh produce (at least in theory!).

Danny sold his majority interest in SunFed in December of 2020 and now resides in Tucson, Arizona with Maricela, his spouse, where he enjoys all of his six children and his 11 grandchildren.