Marko Zaninovich INC.
Delano, CA · Family-owned, vertically integrated producer and distributor of grapes and grape products · Est. 1942
4th Generation Owner Operator; Production Manager – Casa Cristal Nursery (2024–2026), Production Supervisor and Field Operations – Sunview Vineyards of California (2021–2024)
Operations
- Managed facility operations, overseeing schedules, budgets, and KPI tracking to scale daily output in support of company-wide expansion goals.
- Conducted CAPEX analysis comparing equipment costs to labor savings to secure leadership buy-in for automated precision cutting equipment, reducing operating costs and supporting production scale-up.
- Developed and validated a fungicide R&D method through a production-level experiment, authoring SOPs and training crews to institutionalize an improvement in product viability as standard practice.
- Coordinated inbound and outbound logistics, tracking cost, yield, and SKU data and leading safety training to ensure consistent handoff of daily product value.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Led a cross-functional initiative across sales, production, and field operations to coordinate a facility expansion, completing execution ahead of schedule and driving an increase in production capacity.
- Owned an operational budget covering equipment, materials, and water allotments, coordinating shared resources across divisions and mediating competing priorities to deliver on-schedule seasonal production targets.
Strategy and Business Development
- Sourced harvesting technology from markets by managing vendor relationships, reducing harvest crew requirements while maintaining equivalent output.
- Conducted client visits across export markets, leveraging bilingual fluency to manage and retain accounts during the off-season, supporting new and existing order activity.
- Designed organizational structure and onboarded a field operations director to ensure leadership continuity, defining job titles and goals to optimize operations for increased production volume.