Our People

Our execs

Chuck Green

President and CEO

Chuck's long record of successfully leading and managing many top food industry companies serve our tomatoes well. He has great respect for our customers and their passion for a great tasting, fresh product. He is leading us to continue to do our great work in delivering the Northeast with top quality, vine-ripened tomatoes.

Tim Cunniff

Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing

Tim got his first break in 1988 with Dole and has been passionately selling fruits and vegetables ever since. He jumped on the opportunity to provide the Northeast a better, fresher tomato year-round before the greenhouse was built in 2006, and has been telling everyone about it ever since.

Brian Gowen

Chief Financial Officer

Brian oversees the financial reporting at Backyard Farms. Occasionally, he’s also been known to get his hands dirty in operations and expansion planning. Brian is a results-driven guy and loves what he sees at Backyard Farms. The time from planting to harvesting goes by incredibly fast. Every day you can see and taste new results.

Nic Helderman

Executive Vice President, Operations

Nic’s been in the tomato business his whole life—managing greenhouses in Holland, the Middle East, Portugal and Arizona. Now he’s part of the Backyard Farms family in Maine, overseeing the tomato plants, picking and packing, and the maintenance of the greenhouse. He especially loves to hear local employees talking about tomatoes as if they’d been growing them their entire lives.

Pete Lewis

Vice President, Marketing

Pete is passionate about food and marketing and has had the good fortune to be able to combine his passions since 1999. Talking with consumers about our core values and the quality of our tomatoes is what makes him jump out of bed each morning. He hopes that you can take a moment to hear our "story" so you can learn what we are all about.

Natalie Jones

Vice President, Human Resources

Natalie is an enthusiastic and dedicated human resources professional who is committed to building and supporting the Backyard Farms community. People are her priority and she demonstrates that every day. She has lived in Maine for many years and is passionate about growing our business.

Jeff McElroy

Vice President, Research & Development

Jeff is full of adventure, having lived in far away lands in the name of researching ways to grow a better tomato. Here, Jeff studies new tomato varieties and analyzes our growing methods to help us reach our goal of providing the freshest, best tasting tomatoes available, year-round. We have no doubt he'll succeed.