By
June 2, 2021
Harland Heath, who had a long produce career on both the buy and sell sides of the industry and co-founded Heath & Lejeune 40 years ago, died in late May after a battle with cancer. He was involved in the Fresh Produce & Floral Council since its inception and was a regular attendee at the council’s events for the past 55 years.
Mr. Heath was a California native from a large family who got his start in retailing as a pre-teen working for a local Southern California grocer. After high school, he worked for several more retailers and then, while only in his 20s, he and a handful of other ambitious entrepreneurs opened the first Pantry Market in Pasadena in 1955, with Mr. Heath as its director of produce operations. The chain grew to a dozen stores or so before being bought by a larger retailer.