As seen on The Snack: What the Vine Holds
Our industry is about learning and unlearning. Simultaneously. Learning what changes are coming down the path and what solutions have potential. Unlearning the traditions or habits that no longer serve an organization; the ones that have become antiquated, artifacts of time. There is knowing your past in order to take the best next step into the future, and then there are roots that don’t grow. It is a delicate balance. Tip too far in one direction and you’re stagnate. Tip too far in the other and you find yourself scaling without roots: growing so fast the ground beneath you disappears.
Krysten DeGiglio finds herself in such a balance these days. As she steps into her role as Chief Revenue Officer of Village Fresh, she reflects on a business that has transformed; rooted in identity, but built to grow, enhanced by this next era of opportunity. Village Fresh, founded by her father, Mike DeGiglio, has been shaped over decades by the dedication of its people, its leadership, and the partners who have played a role in its journey. Now, as the company enters its next chapter, Krysten joins the leadership team of Village Fresh. Her story is one of discovery and differentiation as she paved her own road to Village Fresh.
For Krysten, carrying that name into the CRO seat isn’t a symbol of succession. It’s a choice she made: slowly, deliberately, across a decade of showing up.
“Watching my dad, Mike, dedicate his life to Village Fresh, formerly Village Farms, has given me such deep appreciation for his work ethic, his sacrifice, his entrepreneurial spirit, and most importantly, his passion. Without that, I know we would not be where we are today. The culture he fostered and the values he instilled are something truly special, and they are what I hope continue to live on. This company, to me, stands the test of time, and that’s a testament to his vision, perseverance, and unwavering commitment,” Krysten shares.
In this newly created executive role, Krysten will lead the company’s commercial strategy, revenue growth initiatives, and customer partnerships across North America. This period of strategic growth is not a new one for Village Fresh, as the company has continued to expand and transform since its inception. Now, under the Verdexa Holdings platform, the company has the tools and the resources to truly map out the near and far horizon.
The blueprint for such growth has come from years and years of sweat equity, wisdom, and innovation cultivated by Mike and his team and now ushered into the future by Krysten and the Village Fresh leadership.
But it all started with a young Krysten visiting the greenhouse with her family, traveling down rows and rows of vines, plants growing towards the sun, protected under glass. As a child in a world of green, she could almost believe she heard the plants growing, the water dripping rhythmically, the footsteps softly stirring the quiet hum of the greenhouse. And, as childhood does, it makes remarkable memories, instilled with wonder, fascination, and passion. All qualities still present in Krysten today, though her road was a curved one with a destination that led her onto different paths before returning her to Village Fresh.
“I remember taking a tomato off the vine and biting into it. Now, when I look at my kids, I picture myself as a child in the greenhouse, having that same experience. Seeing my kids enjoy the products that our team has worked so hard to bring to market makes that connection even more personal,” Krysten says. “When I look at a tomato, of course, I see the greenhouse. I see the care, the attention, the people, the innovation, the sustainable practices, all of which made it possible for them to enjoy that tomato.”
Her route back wasn’t predetermined.
“My father and I both agreed that I would start my career somewhere else, not even really with the end goal of working here, but it was important that I pursued my own career path before even considering coming to the company,” she remembers.
Krysten has spent over a decade finding her footing inside this company; learning it, earning it. When she looks back at that path, it was not just one moment that sealed her love for the industry, it was a series of stories and experiences that shaped her love for fresh. Today, Krysten’s appointment to this newly created role at Village Fresh reflects the confidence Verdexa’s leadership has in her.
“When I look at a tomato, of course, I see the greenhouse. I see the care, the attention, the people, the innovation, the sustainable practices…”
— Krysten DeGiglio, Chief Revenue Officer, Village Farms
Krysten joined Village Fresh in 2015 after beginning her career with Ernst & Young and Daiichi Sankyo. The busy and dynamic now mother of two little ones earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration from Fairfield University. She progressed through increasingly senior sales leadership roles, including Regional Corporate Sales Representative, Regional Corporate Sales Manager, and most recently Director of Regional Corporate Sales. With a trifecta of financial, strategic, and commercial expertise to fuel her thoughtfulness and curiosity, Krysten is hungry for what is next, but also excited to celebrate the roots that have remained strong and expansive over the course of Village Fresh’s tenure.
That hunger didn’t arrive with the title. It was there long before.
The decade she spent moving through regional and corporate sales roles wasn’t title-climbing. It was relationship-building: retail, club, and foodservice accounts across North America, earned by showing up, following through, and putting the customer first.
“Success is not just about selling. It’s about understanding all the facets that impact what we care about most: execution for the customer. Krysten expresses. “Relationships come before transactions. Sales is the outcome of trust that’s been built over time. You can look at the numbers, and it tells a story, but the relationship is the intangible variable that sets the stage for success. We hope to build on our long-term partnerships while developing new relationships with customers who respect the value of the supply chain. We truly care about the health of the industry and also the companies that we work with, and when we share that mindset, everyone has the opportunity to grow.”
The Village Fresh team has earned its reputation by investing in their word and doing what they say they are going to do. Simply put, as Krysten clarifies, treat others the way you want to be treated.
“Be transparent. Keep consistent execution top of mind. That foundation we’ve built our company on is not going to change. We just have an opportunity now to build upon those strengths and to continue evolving,” she notes, adding that while the team’s strategy and long-term plans are fortified with vision, even a good plan has limitations. “You can’t control every variable, but you can control how you respond. Our commercial strategy will focus on understanding what our customers need to be successful. We are going to listen, and listen well. Most importantly, we will prioritize our initiatives around how Village Fresh and our customers can create value together to be mutually successful. Our success is key to their success, too.”
The company didn’t change alone. The world around it did. Enter Verdexa in 2025, previously Vanguard Food before recently rebranding in 2026.
Village Fresh didn’t arrive in 2025 as a company in need of rescue. It arrived as one of the most enduring names in controlled environment agriculture, 35-plus years deep, supplying retail, club, and foodservice customers across the United States and Canada with greenhouse-grown tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. What changed wasn’t the company. It was the context around it.
“Sales is the outcome of trust that’s been built over time. You can look at the numbers, and it tells a story, but the relationship is the intangible variable that sets the stage for success.”
When Verdexa Holdings formed in 2025 through a partnership between Village Farms International, Sweat Equities, and Kennedy Lewis Investment Management, Village Fresh became its flagship operating company.
“Verdexa will provide additional resources, capabilities, expansion opportunities, and production capacity to our portfolio. This will enhance what we’re capable of, but it doesn’t change the core of who we are and what we stand for,” Krysten says.
The platform is designed to grow: Adding additional operating companies over time, building shared services, and providing the kind of capital and infrastructure a 37-year-old greenhouse grower can use to do more of what it already does well. More acreage. More product lines. More innovation capacity. The identity stays; the ceiling moves.
“Being the flagship of something new and larger is its own kind of responsibility,” Krysten says. “Luckily for us, growth doesn’t have to come at the expense of identity. The growth phase and the changes we’re going through will enhance the customer experience. We’ve spent over 35 years building our reputation and our values remain constant, even as we evolve.”
There’s a particular kind of weight that comes with a story like this one. I ask Krysten how she holds everything that’s been built and still gives herself room to lead it somewhere new.
“I feel a responsibility to honor everything that has been built over the past 37 years while helping prepare Village for the next 37. Our goal is to continue expanding this company so that we can add more chapters to the story for years to come,” Krysten reflects. “It’s about finding the right balance between executing today and building for tomorrow. That’s where I think this role holds so much weight for me. The pressure is not to reinvent who we are, but to help us evolve by capitalizing on the strength of our resources, our team, enhancing our brand, enhancing our reputation.”
If you ask Krysten or Mike about where these strongholds of success come from, both will humbly and graciously gesture to the people who have not just laid the groundwork, but sustained its growth.
“The greatest strengths of Village Fresh are based on the experience, the dedication, and the loyalty of our team. And that has shaped us—it’s been instrumental in making us who we are. We’ve been fortunate to have very little employee turnover and team members with long tenure, which has given us an incredible depth of knowledge and expertise,” Krysten shares. “As we look to the future, it’s important that we cultivate the next generation of talent to carry on the legacy and culture. Our industry, at large, is in the midst of a new generational transition. It is an exciting time.”
“Every day matters,” Krysten says. “Every day contributes to the success of our future.”
The vine holds. And she tends it.
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