Andy Paston has been named Chief Commercial Officer of Stokes Seeds, a leading North American supplier of vegetable seed serving commercial growers across the United States and Canada.
Paston will have responsibility for the company’s commercial functions across North America, including sales, marketing, product development, and customer service. He will help strengthen coordination across Stokes’ commercial organization, build expanded partnerships with strategic suppliers and customers, and support continued growth across the company’s markets. Paston brings extensive experience across seed, crop protection, biologicals, and specialty agriculture, with a career spanning agronomy, sales, commercial strategy, and organizational leadership. He also brings several years of experience in the vegetable seed market and a track record of building sales organizations, expanding market presence, integrating acquisitions, and developing high-performing teams.
“Andy brings a strong combination of agricultural expertise and commercial leadership,” said Aaron Locker, Managing Director at Kincannon & Reed. “He has demonstrated the ability to bring structure to growing organizations, build accountable teams, and translate technical expertise into commercial results. Those capabilities will be important as Stokes continues to strengthen its commercial organization and expand its reach across North America.”
Most recently, Paston has led commercial functions for an agricultural business that grew 70%+ during his tenure. He expanded the sales organization, supported integration following an acquisition, and helped extend the company’s presence into the Western U.S. and Southwest Canada, as well as into adjacent market sectors.
“Stokes is at an important point in its evolution, with an opportunity to build on its strong customer relationships and established position in the vegetable seed market,” said Jon Leafstedt, Managing Partner at Kincannon & Reed. “Andy’s experience leading commercial transformation, combined with his understanding of the agricultural marketplace and vegetable seed business, aligns well with the organization’s goals for its next phase of growth.”
In his new role, Paston will work across Stokes’ commercial functions and with key suppliers to strengthen market positioning, commercial effectiveness, and product strategy.
Stokes Seeds connects leading global genetics providers with commercial growers across North America, offering a broad portfolio of vegetable seed varieties suited to diverse crops, regions, and production systems. With approximately 100 employees and 25 territory managers, Stokes serves growers through a field-based commercial model built around long-standing customer relationships and technical expertise.
