California fruit and vegetable grower-shipper Five Crowns has added two industry veterans, will double its asparagus production and has committed to growth in several other areas.

Gary Meadows joins Five Crowns as vice president of a new Los Angeles division and Cruz Carrera as director of the asparagus division. Both will work in the new L.A. office.

Meadows, the former vice president of sales at Progressive Produce, has 38 years of industry experience. Carrera is the former director of sales and business development at Progressive and former sales manager of Mission Produce.

The doubling of Five Crowns’ asparagus production will help ensure a consistent, year-round supply of product, according to the company. New growing areas include Washington, Central Mexico, Peru and other new regions in Mexico.

Berry production will also expand beyond Five Crowns’ current growing locations in Canada, Washington and California, to also include Mexico and Peru. Five Crowns will also add wet vegetable items including cabbage, cilantro, Brussel sprouts and Asian vegetables.

“We are optimistic about the new facilities and our asparagus program, and adding Gary and Cruz to the Five Crowns Family to help build both areas of the business,” says Bill Colace, who owns Five Crowns with his brother Joe Colace.

The company also has plans to open a new state-of- the-art facility in Tracy, California, to help expand its value-added corn program with GloriAnn Farms and provide regional distribution of corn, watermelons, berries and asparagus. The new facility is scheduled to open in January of 2021.