MBG Marketing
Cooperatives/Farmers Market/Food Hub
2018 - 2020
Derrin Wheeler is employed with MBG Marketing, a grower-owned blueberry/blackberry marketing cooperative, and is involved with growers all the way from the farm to the consumer, starting with grower support in maintaining healthy plants, to the harvest process, to distribution of packed product, to customer purchase. As Director of the Sunbelt Business Unit, it is Derrin’s duty to manage harvests from estimating yields and gathering market intelligence, to overseeing company support teams (food safety, information technology, horticulture, etc.), all the while maintaining communication with and between the coop’s grower membership and marketing team to provide the best returns to its owner/members.
Derrin has served on multiple boards and committees. He is an active member of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA), serving three terms as a board member and currently holding a chair on the GFVGA Trade Show Convention Committee. His involvement with the GFVGA has broadened his experience in dealing with other fruit and vegetable representatives throughout the state. Derrin regularly engages with others in the North American blueberry industry by participating in the semi-annual meetings of both the North American Blueberry Council and United States Highbush Blueberry Council. He also serves as the southeast representative to the MBG/Naturipe Charitable Giving Committee, which is dedicated to giving financial aid in service to the health and well-being of children.
In his local community, Derrin was elected to a seat on the Bacon County Board of Education and valued the opportunity to make a difference locally. During his tenure on the board he attended monthly local and state mandated meetings, which focused on local and state policy, as well as budgetary items.