Frozen Fruit Runs in the Family

In the late 1960s James Rigby pursued his passion for farming and founded Rigby Foods. Today Rigby Foods is women owned and managed by James' daughters: Marianne and Gabriela. It is one of the largest exporters of frozen fruit out of central Mexico. Rigby Foods supplies a wide range of customers in North, Central and Latin America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Rigby Foods is a well-positioned company in the industry working with and empowering local certified growers and packing plants. Above all, Rigby Foods serves to provide amazing quality.

Family & Company History

Rigby Team

Marianne Rigby
Head of Sales

Marianne Rigby

Head of Sales

Both born in Mexico and educated in England, Marianne and Gabriela are bilingual and bicultural and grew up in the fruit business on their family owned strawberry farm in Jalisco, Mexico.

Marianne holds a B.A. and M.A. in Biological Sciences from Cambridge University, England. A keen entrepreneur and innovator, Marianne introduced plastic bubble containers and "ready to eat, no wash" strawberries to Mexico, allowing her to sell fruit for three times the price. She diversified her company to become the first to sell fresh raspberries into the Mexican market and to process raspberries for the frozen fruit market in the US and Europe. Marianne expanded the family operation to supply frozen strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and mangoes to the US market. After relocating to the US, Marianne provided consultation for various US-based companies such as Driscoll, CMS and Brown Cow Yogurt.

She founded Rigby Frozen Foods in 2007 and directed sales and operations, implemented logistics and inventory systems, managed offshore production teams, and headed up the import/export division. In 2017, Marianne launched Rigby Foods as a USA distributor to expand the family business and continue supplying the highest quality certified frozen fruits out of Mexico, Latin and Central America.

"Growing up on a farm and working in various production capacities, I appreciate everything that needs to be done to deliver an outstanding product to the market.

The industry is growing rapidly and every few months we bring new products with exciting flavors and applications to our consumers. Our customers are constantly requesting that we introduce new and exotic products that are delicious and with high nutritional value.

I feel very lucky to have found a career that enables me to bring the world’s best fruit flavors to the best companies in the US and have a direct positive impact on the environment."

Karina Padilla
Head of Quality Assurance

Karina Padilla

Head of Quality Assurance

"It all starts in the ground. My position at Rigby Foods is to verify that the product is handled correctly all the way from the field to processing plant with the correct and innocuous quality standards."
Myrna
Quality Assurance

Myrna

Quality Assurance

"Once inventories are presented for final shipment, it is my responsibility to verify the condition of the finished product, monitor the cleanliness of processing environment, packaging correctness and compile product records for final shipment."
Alejandra
Accounting and QA Support

Alejandra

Accounting and QA Support

"My responsibilities at Rigby Foods are composed of accounting, logistic support, and coordinating between customers and internal operations."
Araceli
Logistics and QA Support

Araceli

Logistics and QA Support

"Timing is everything! My role at Rigby Foods is to facilitate timely shipments of product to our customers via land or sea. Due to the sensitivity of time, it is important that all products are processed efficiently and correctly."