Principals
Born and raised in Salinas, California (the Salad Bowl of the World), Paul has been around the agriculture industry his entire life. His Father/Mentor, Gary Ranzenberger, helped teach him the business and how important it was to do things right. While attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to study Agribusiness he took an internship at Tanimura&Antle, this is where the produce industry captured his desire to pursue it as a career. After completing his degree, he moved back to Salinas starting with Quality Control roles, which introduced him to the operational side of the business.
In 1995, the lettuce market went crazy after the Salinas Valley was flooded in the spring. The office needed more buyers and Paul was promoted. After several years as a Buyer at Markon he was given the opportunity to help a start-up purchasing office for U.S. Foodservice. He decided to take the opportunity to see how a buying office starts from the ground up and joined the U.S. Foodservice team in the early stages. This role eventually led into managing the USF Salinas Office while developing their private label program.
Paul Grothe, President
25 years of experience
Traci Grothe, CFO
The next opportunity came at Fresh Express where he was hired as the Foodservice Business Manager. In this role he oversaw the P&L for Subway, McDonald’s, YUM Brands, Chipotle, Dominos, Markon Inc., FSA, and many others. While at Fresh Express he was promoted to Director of Healthy Snacking working with the larger retailers in the U.S. and Canada.
After Chiquita/Fresh Express Paul took a position with DRS as Vice President of Produce to handle all of Subway’s produce procurement in San Diego, CA. While at Subway, he furthered his experience with fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, onions, lettuce and apples. Also, he helped develop their fresh avocado program and temperature studies at various distribution centers. After five great years working with Subway, he decided to open his own procurement company. Del Sur Services, founded to serve the industry with experience and integrity.
Traci was raised in Santa Maria, CA. Traci met Paul while attending Fresno State University. She received her accounting degree while dating Paul and then moved to Salinas. They were married and Traci worked as an accountant for Brandon & Tibbs and Hayashi & Wayland. Recently, she has kept very busy with their two children, Maddy and Thomas, while also being the family accountant. She is the inter-workings of Del Sur Services.
Traci was raised in Santa Maria, CA. Traci met Paul while attending Fresno State University. She received her accounting degree while dating Paul and then moved to Salinas. They were married and Traci worked as an accountant for Brandon & Tibbs and Hayashi & Wayland. Recently, she has kept very busy with their two children, Maddy and Thomas, while also being the family accountant. She is the inter-workings of Del Sur Services.