The previous Citrus Achievement Award winners embody the honor,
service, and dedication that make Florida citrus the best industry in the world.                            

Phil Herndon - 2001 Recipient
Born into a Florida citrus family on June 4, 1947, Phil Herndon seemed poised for success at an early age. He worked at the family operation until he joined the military just before the Vietnam War. Soon after the war, Herndon married Patti Snively of Winter Haven and went to work for the family business - the Alcoma Packing Company processing plant and groves. He began as a sales manager and progressed to general manager of the entire operation. Herndon stayed with Alcoma for more than 25 years. After it was sold to Citrosuco of North America in 1998, he continued to manage the plant for another two years. He spent the last year of his life working as a consultant for Louis Dreyfus in Winter Garden.

Stan Carter - 2002 Recipient
Stan Carter is recognized as one of the founding fathers of the best management practices (BMP) initiative. As the manager of 1700 acres of citrus in St. Lucie and Okeechobee Counties, Carter became so concerned about the water-quality situation in the state, that he helped organize a task force to find a solution to the problem. His efforts to push through the program have labeled him as a pioneer in the industry, and very worthy of his receipt of the award.
Of course, Carter's work did not end with his gathering of the minds. Carter has been an outspoken leader in voice and deed in bringing about acceptance of BMPs. Carter has also chaired the Indian River Citrus BMP Implementation Committee, a group which developed a manual that was adopted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Norman Todd - 2003 Recipient
Over the past four decades, Norman Todd's career has spanned the state and influenced countless people in the industry. Perhaps his biggest accomplishment was the leading role he played in passing the Citrus Marketing Order that established the citrus box tax, which since 1991 has provided funding for University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) production research directly aimed at maximizing grower profits.
Other leadership roles Todd held during his career included board positions with the Florida State Horticultural Society, the Southwest Florida Research and Education Foundation, and the Highlands County Farm Bureau, among others. He has also served on the advisory committees for Polk County Extension, the Florida Department of Citrus, and the UF/IFAS Research and Education Center in Immokalee.

James "Buster" Pratt - 2004 Recipient
Born in 1924, Pratt got his start in citrus upon returning home to Florida after serving as a Marine in World War II. His father, who had just purchased a grove in Lake Alfred, suggested he learn the citrus industry. So, Pratt worked for a brief period as a laboratory assistant at the Citrus Experiment Station in Lake Alfred before becoming a grove worker and, later, a foreman at his father's operation. He worked his way up in the citrus industry through production to sales and marketing before winding up at Coca-Cola Foods, where he remained for more than 30 years and retired as assistant director of grove operations. Retirement, however, didn't slow him down. That's when he started Pratt Groves (a 135-acre operation that grows Valencias, Orlando tangelos, and Hamlins), which he oversaw until his death in April.

Quentin Roe - 2005 Recipient

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (Aug. 26, 2005) - Quentin Roe, Vice President of the fresh fruit division of William G. Roe & Sons in Winter Haven, was honored by Florida Grower magazine as the Citrus Achievement Award winner for 2005. The Award was presented to Roe at the Gulf Citrus Grower Association's Banquet on Wednesday, Aug. 24. most influential and effective people involved in the state's largest commodity.

Florida Grower Magazine's Citrus Achievement Award - sponsored by DuPont Crop Protection - is designed to recognize the most influential and innovative citrus growers in the industry. Now in its fifth year, the award has become synonymous with honor, service, and dedication.

Dr. James Griffiths - 2006 Recipient

"Jim has never been scared to put a well-thought-out position on the table," says Quentin Roe of William G. Roe & Sons, citrus packer and grower, and 2005 Citrus Achievement Award winner. "Many times, he has arrived at various organizational meetings around the industry as the only person with a complete grasp of the facts for an issue and a well-thought-out solution. "He always stimulates a discussion or debate, and refuses to allow board or council members to act without the facts being noted for the public record."

Daniel R. Richey - 2007 Recipient
BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. (June 7, 2007) – In front of more
than 350 citrus industry leaders, government officials and peers, Daniel Richey, chief executive officer of Riverfront Packing in Vero Beach, Fla., was honored by Florida Grower magazine as the Citrus Achievement Award winner for 2007. The award was presented at Florida Citrus Mutual’s Citrus Industry Conference Banquet on Thursday, June 7.

Florida Grower Magazine’s Citrus Achievement Award is designed to recognize the most influential and innovative citrus growers in the industry. Now in its seventh year, the award has become synonymous with honor, service, and dedication.