Tom Mello
Manager of Organic Agriculture

As a consumer of Amy's delicious foods, you might have asked yourself how and where Amy's finds the great tasting organic fruits and vegetables used in their products.

Tom Mello, Amy's Manager of Organic Agriculture, is responsible for working with growers and processors to ensure adequate quantities and superb quality of all the agriculture products that are needed to make Amy’s foods. Spring and fall are Tom’s busiest times of the year, when he is on the road as much as 80% of the time visiting farms that grow vegetables such as onions, broccoli, corn, carrots, peas and more. By traveling to organic farms, he is able to do field inspections and quality assurance in processing facilities. Tom makes sure that every organic agriculture product sold to Amy’s is grown and processed in accordance with new federal organic foods regulations. The majority of Tom’s travels are in California (70%), while the rest of the time he visits farms in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and even Mexico.

Before working at Amy's, Tom worked as a produce manager at a natural foods retailer in Sonoma County. Rachel and her mother were regular customers of the store. They would often ask Tom what organic produce they should buy. They also asked him what was selling in the frozen food section. Tom's tips and ideas paid off because eventually Rachel and Andy offered Tom a job at Amy's Kitchen. Including the last eight years at Amy's, Tom has been in the natural foods industry for 31 years.

Since coming to Amy's in 1996, Tom has seen Amy's grow rapidly. Tom started in the purchasing department as a Field Representative. Because Amy's was growing so quickly and the demand for agriculture items became so great, a new department was created for Tom - the Agriculture Department. Tom has recently seen the Agriculture Department expand to include a new Field Representative, who will share the time in the field with him.

Tom says the best thing about working for Amy's is that he gets to work with so many great people, especially Rachel and Andy, whom he greatly admires. He also is proud to work for a company that is committed to quality as well as organic and sustainable agriculture. Tom's favorite Amy's foods include Amy's Country Dinner, Amy's Country Cheddar Skillet Meals and Amy's Spinach Feta Pocket.