Dominic Etcheberria is heading up a new Los Angeles office for Curry & Co. and will manage a distribution center the company is planning for Southern California.

The Brooks, Ore., company has been expanding its North American berry programs and tapped Etcheberria to manage berry sales at the new office, according to a news release. He will also manage the distribution center, which company officials say will be ready in time for the 2013 import berry season.

Curry & Co. recently opened Curry Fruit Chile and president Matt Curry said in the news release the new Southern California distribution center is needed to handle anticipated volume increases from Chile, Argentina, Mexico and North America.

“We continue to fill in the missing pieces of our blueberry puzzle to meet the needs of our customers,” Curry said in the release. “The berry market will continue to grow and we will have distribution centers in Oregon and Los Angeles, giving us the ability to deliver high quality berries throughout the West Coast.”

Curry said Etcheberria’s tenure in the berry industry gives him the ability to work effectively with suppliers and customers. Etcheberria most recently worked for Westlake Distributors for more than three years, handling sales and grower relations for strawberries from Mexico and California.

He has also worked in sales for Giumarra International Berry and was general manager for the Irvine Valencia Growers, a division of The Irvine Co., and was in sales and planning at Magarro Farms before that.

In addition to berries, Curry & Co. offers year-round supplies of sweet onions, onions and blueberries. They also have a seasonal Vidalia Sweet Carrot program and a seasonal West Coast blackberry program.

The Packer