California fruit giant CEO steps down amid ‘toxic’ pesticide backlash

California berry giant Driscoll’s is shaking up its leadership as CEO Soren Bjorn steps down from the top job amid a growing legal storm over allegations that its strawberries contain toxic “forever chemicals.”

Brie Reiter Smith, the company’s board vice chair and great-granddaughter of Driscoll’s co-founder, will take over effective immediately, the Watsonville-based company announced Tuesday.

“While I may not have followed the traditional path to this role, no one believes in our company’s mission more than me,” Smith said. “The team Soren has assembled is the best we’ve had, which is a real testament to his leadership and vision.”

Bjorn, who joined Driscoll’s in 2006 and became CEO in 2023, will remain with the company during the transition and help with key strategic priorities.

“We have had a lot of fun and been through plenty of challenges together,” Driscoll’s Executive Chair Miles Reiter said of the outgoing CEO.

The leadership change comes as Driscoll’s faces a consumer fraud class-action lawsuit accusing the berry giant of deceptive marketing over alleged pesticide and PFAS contamination in its strawberries.

The lawsuit, filed by six consumers from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Illinois, claims laboratory testing of two boxes of Driscoll’s strawberries found residues from 12 pesticides at levels allegedly prohibited in the European Union and several other countries.

Eight of the chemicals identified in the testing were described in the report as PFAS, a class of highly persistent chemicals commonly dubbed “forever chemicals.”

The allegations build on a separate whistleblower complaint filed last month by David Harada, Driscoll’s former manager of food safety and regulatory compliance for the US and Canada.

Harada claims he was wrongfully fired after raising concerns that some growers were allegedly violating state, federal and international pesticide limits.

According to court documents reviewed by the California Post, Harada alleges that after warning executives about produce allegedly being sold or exported in violation of US and Canadian food-safety and pesticide laws, he was told to prioritize profits and create “plausible deniability” rather than address the alleged violations.

The consumer lawsuit also accuses Driscoll’s of “greenwashing” by promoting an environmentally friendly image while allegedly failing to disclose the use of persistent chemicals.

The plaintiffs claim they relied on Driscoll’s branding and packaging, including its “Only the Finest Berries” slogan, when buying the strawberries and would not have purchased them — or would have paid less — had they known about the alleged PFAS-related compounds.

Driscoll’s has strongly rejected the accusations.

“We reject the allegations in this lawsuit and believe they are without merit,” the company previously told The Post.

Now Smith, who has worked across the family-owned company for years, will take the reins.

She previously grew blueberries in Chile, oversaw quality and product leadership across the Americas, and served as a director and vice chair of the board.

“The berries we put on tables around the world are the same berries I feed my three young daughters every day,” Smith said in the announcement.

“I am honored to continue the tradition of positively impacting lives by operating with trustworthiness, passion and humility.”

Driscoll’s Executive Chair Miles Reiter praised Bjorn’s tenure, saying his “intelligence, strength of character and commitment” to the company’s mission had defined his leadership.

The company did not say that Bjorn’s departure was connected to the lawsuits or the allegations against Driscoll’s.

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