Editor’s note: The following profile is from the 2025 Packer 25, our annual tribute to 25 leaders, innovators and agents of change across the fresh produce supply chain. (You can view all honorees here.) This feature has been edited for length and clarity.
Kevin Naze — Director of produce, The Chef’s Warehouse
Building relationships has been a major part of Kevin Naze’s career. He is wonderful to work with and brings a large presence to the industry according to those who nominated him. For his part, he calls the industry a tight-knit one that is filled with great people.
“This industry truly is a family and focused on doing the right thing for the environment, our people and our customers alike,” he says.
One of his early mentors gave him the lesson that quality and service will be remembered long after price has been forgotten. To this wisdom he also adds his own: “Be better today than you were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than you were today.”
What has changed in the industry over your career that really stands out?
One of the things that really stands out to me is that every year our customers, as well as the general population, have become more savvy, knowledgeable and sophisticated with their food choices regardless of dining out or eating at home. This is especially a good thing for the produce industry.
Food options are not as basic and streamlined as they once were, and people want more choices to express their creativity or support their values. Chefs are artists and the plates are their palettes. The internet and platforms such as The Food Network and other culinary channels have brought new ideas and inspiration to the home consumer as well. In addition, I believe the movement to feature products that identify with a local source and can also tell a story close to home is here to stay. Recent trends on eating well and making healthy choices are really exciting for our category.
I understand Chef’s Warehouse has been growing lately with a lot of acquisitions. How do you manage that change and lead your team?
This has been a fun time for us. Our business is not only growing as a result of our recent acquisitions but also organically, as we have added the fresh produce category in several regional markets to round out our offerings of high-quality dairy, specialty and protein categories.
One thing that is unique about CW is that our focus is all about the plate and bringing our chefs the finest ingredients that the industry has to offer. We are building our produce category the same way by partnering with the best in the business.
Bringing the teams together has been exciting and we all learn from each other. The bonus with our acquisitions has been the people and industry knowledge that they have added to our team. For our specialty companies that are new to handling the produce category, the ability to insert veteran talent or use them to train our operational and sales teams is invaluable to our success.
What advice do you have for folks just starting out in sales, distribution or purchasing when it comes to relationship building?
It may sound cliché, but start by surrounding yourself with great people. Find a mentor early in your career either internally or externally and use that relationship to make yourself better each day. Ask many questions, but more importantly, listen.
Be open to embracing change and challenges as no two days, weeks or years are ever the same. There is no finish line for success. Take chances and try new things. Think about the companies that are continually improving and never rest. You constantly need to be working towards things that will be more efficient or bring value to either your own teams or your customers. Don’t be afraid to fail. If you are not taking risks, you are not growing.
As a leader, it’s vital to empower your people if you expect them to move forward. Lastly, be true to yourself and make sure you are passionate about your choices. Life is too short. If you don’t roll out of bed in the morning with excitement for the career path you have made, it’s time to find something else to do.
What’s a book, podcast, show, movie or interview that has really stuck with you that you’d recommend?
They should have made a movie about the book that I am reading once again after almost 20 years: “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t” by Jim Collins. It was one of the first leadership books that I could not get away from reading a few pages and applying “A-ha!” moments to my own environment.
The first time I read it, my biggest takeaway was that greatness is defined, not as a singular event, but by being consistent and disciplined over time. We will have to wait and see what it is this time 20 years later.
