Expert Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance Specialists.
We provide Quality solutions to Food and Beverage manufacturers and the Dairy industry.
Exporting?
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We have extensive experience getting products across borders.
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We ensure your products meet export eligibility requirements and gain the correct official assurances (documentation) by complying with Overseas Market Access Requirements (OMARs) and Importing Country Requirements (ICRs).
Flexible Consultants
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Our consultants include senior QA Managers and Specialists, experienced Auditors, through to our New Product Development (NPD) and Food Technologist.
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The support we offer can be on-site, remote, or a combination depending on your needs.
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We cover short, medium, and long-term Quality Assurance roles, act in roles during recruitment gaps and effectively manage your important, business-critical projects.
ANNETTE GANE - Technical Manager (starting 1 June 2022)
A focused, accomplished professional, Annette is an influential, strategic, and innovative business leader with multiple capabilities. She offers significant management experience across the Quality, Technical, Laboratory, and Management areas within the Food sector industry.
A strong track record of strategy development and deployment, business transformation leadership, programme and project management, and delivering high-performance teams and results.
Coupled with this, Annette offers:
- 25+ years in the Dairy Industry with a strong leadership background in Infant Formula and Toddler Nutrition
- Quality, Manufacturing and Technical policy, Process and Procedural Development, Integration and Optimization
- Strategy development and deployment knowledge and experience
- Significant Laboratory experience across a number of primary industries
- Extensive Change Management snd Business Transformation development – including multiple company mergers
- Due diligence and trouble-shooting knowledge of technical, quality, manufacturing, and laboratory environments
ELIZABETH MALONEY - National Quality Assurance Manager, New Zealand
An engaging senior leader, with many years in the Dairy industry, working for NZ’s largest dairy company in Food Safety & Quality roles. Liz has successfully led and managed regional quality teams across multiple manufacturing sites for many years. Her specialties lie in Infant Formula and Nutrition as well as Regulatory, Laboratory Management and Sensory Evaluation.
Liz has a natural style and warmth, allowing her to quickly build rapport with any team; from diverse nationalities, senior executives to operators and vendors. She builds capable, engaged individuals and teams of people with a strong focus on food safety culture.
She’s passionate about working with and understanding her clients to create the best possible outcomes.
Liz represented her previous company many times during Customer, Regulatory and Internal Audits and has hosted international organisations. She is comfortable managing multiple projects across multiple sites with her major achievements including:
- Implementation of FSSC22000 Certification Standard
- Implementation of Infant Formula Standard (Manufacture of Dairy Based Infant Formula Products & Formulated Supplementary Foods for Young Children)
- Country Listing Audits for China, CNCA , EEU, EU (European Union)
- Development and implementation of Sensory training programs
Recent Qualifications:
- Advanced Course in Hygienic Design (EHEDG) – Hygienic design of
equipment and hygienic engineering aspects especially for food industries.
ADAM TYSON - National Quality Assurance Manager, Australia
March 2020 kicked off a new direction for Produco as we opened our new Australian division.
Based in Melbourne, National QA Manager, Adam brings a wealth of experience to the role. He’s been in the food industry since 1991 and has over 20 years in the Dairy industry.
Adam’s career began with Nestle, Australia in frozen food, then to the brand new Darnum Park spray drying plant in Victoria, where he worked for 17 years under Bonlac and Fonterra.
His skillset included in-depth operating of the Spray Dryer, Evaporators, Separators, Packing Machines, Logistics and Boilers. He transitioned roles into the Food Safety / Quality space, initially overseeing Raw Materials, HACCP and Verifications.
A move to New Zealand at Oceania Dairy as Process Manager then led to the Quality Manager role with Danone, before becoming the NZ Supplier Quality Manager. His roles have interfaced with Customers, Suppliers and a wide range of staff including senior managers, technical teams and operators. An excellent communicator, he quickly builds trust and establishes a rapport with those around him.
Adam’s interests include collecting and cellaring wine, travelling and staying fit and healthy.
You may be interested to learn Adam was Mayor of the Baw Baw Shire in Victoria, Australia in 2010 while serving as a local government Councillor for 7 years.
JADE ELLIOTT - Quality Assurance Project Manager
- Ko Putauaki tōku maunga (Pūtauaki is my mountain)
- Ko Rangitaiki tōku awa (Rangitāiki is my river)
- Ko Mataatua tōku waka (Mataatua is my canoe)
- Ko Ngāti Awa me Ngāi Tūhoe ngā iwi (Ngāti Awa and Tuhoe are my tribes)
- Ko Kokohinau, Tūteao me Waiōhau ngā marae (Kokohinau, Tūteao and Waiōhau are my marae)
Over 20 years experience in food manufacturing functions such as Supply Chain, Production, Technical & Laboratory, Food Safety Quality, and Human Resources, Jade has a large kete (basket) of knowledge and skills that continues to grow. She thrives on People Interaction, Process Optimisation and Efficiency with a strength and discipline for project management which leads to being action-oriented and goals-driven.
He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata!
What is the most important thing in the world? It is the people, it is the people, it is the people! The people are what I enjoy most about Produco. Our team, who excel at what they do and have a strong spirit of whanaungatanga – kinship and close connection, and our clients. It’s very satisfying knowing we have been part of their journey, contributing towards their goals and achievements. My kete of skills includes:
- Project and Programme Management
- Dairy Industry experience
- Continuous Improvement (Lean Methodology, Six-Sigma, Operational Excellence & Integrated Work Systems
- Māori Culture and Customs
- Organisational Health & Engagement
- Change Management
- Health & Safety Management
- Agile Methodology
- Strategy & Business Plan Development
- Problem Solve Facilitation
EMILY WANG - Quality Assurance Manager
Emily’s Quality Assurance | Quality Control | Research career began with a leading GMP pharmaceutical company. Various awards and internal promotions enabled her to gain an in-depth understanding of the life cycle of products from production to delivery.
She’s had extensive exposure among research environments, working to deliver results alongside teams with multiple cultural ethnicities.
Emily is fluent in both Mandarin and English languages. This, coupled with a clear communication style and precise quality assurance skills opened up opportunities to advance her skillset in:
- International audits
- Assisting commercial teams across multiple projects
- Developing client relationships
Emily holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacology, as well as a Masters of Science majoring in Chemistry (with Distinction) from the University of Otago.
JANE STOCKTON - Food Technologist
Jane is our Food Technology architect, holding a Food Science and Human Nutrition degree from the University of Otago. She’s worked with top NZ food companies including Cerebos Greggs, Delmaine, LHF, NZDF and Epicurean Dairy Company to name a few.
‘What I love is the challenge of NPD. New Product Development. Inventing a new food product, a new flavour variant, a more cost effective product. I’ve developed hundreds of new food products’ across:
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- RTE meals and soups
- Cultured dairy products
- Fresh dips and sauces
- Nutritional beverages
- Snack foods
- Bakery and pies
- Coconut yoghurt
- Vegetarian and vegan products
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‘I love being part of the Produco team and relish the opportunity to work with customers to solve their NPD / Technical problems’.
Jane also holds a Dip. Business Administration and delivers a skillset that encompasses:
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- New Product Development
- Recipe Development
- Product Formulation & Reformulations
- Food Regulatory Requirements
- Nutritional Information Panels (NIPs)
- Product Labelling
- Commissioning and implementing new plants
‘I am a passionate and creative foodie. This, teamed with my strong business acumen and love of solving problems means I can efficiently deliver the perfect NPD solution for you and your team’.
GAVIN KOUWENHOVEN - Quality Assurance Specialist (Seafood, Meat)
Based in Queenstown, Gavin’s projects cover the South Island region for Produco.
Previous roles saw him as General Manager in a value-added food company with extensive involvement in food safety, quality, and product development areas. Coming through the operations side of the business, an ability to understand production needs, while meeting safety and quality parameters was instrumental in developing new products and enabling existing products to be sold profitably in the marketplace.
Working in a small management team, adaptability and awareness of many areas of the business were vital in maintaining regulatory and customer compliance.
Gavin also brings a Commerce degree to his skillset and is looking forward to sharing his business experience to help businesses meet the varied challenges producing food can bring – from product development to production improvements to regulatory compliance. Some career highlights include:
- Develop HACCP-based documentation and operate a food facility with multiple food types – fish, shellfish, pork, beef, and chicken
- Company representative for successful external audits from customers (WQA, BRC) as well as local (MPI) and international (FDA) regulations
- Develop and implement HACCP-based RMP for an export packhouse
- Part of the team that won the Supreme NZ Food Award (2014) for a Smoked Salmon product we developed and produced
- Obtain certification as an Approved Person for LACF
- Install and operate a High Pressure Processing vessel to shuck raw mussels and for use as listeriacidal step
- Assist with packaging design and compliance
- Develop new products
- Install and operate a retort vessel
DELWYN ASKEW - Quality Assurance Specialist
Based in Auckland, I have been involved in the Food Industry all my working life.
Initially I began with Dairy FMCG, at the now Fonterra site in Takanini. Here, we manufactured iconic brands across a range of products and processes; Fresh and UHT milks, Yoghurt and other Cultured products. We also produced Dairy foods, custards and Fruit drinks and juices.
Working with ‘living’ products triggered my love of microbiology. My responsibilities during this time included Quality Assurance, Quality Systems and Laboratory Management.
I then moved into other food industries holding Quality Management positions and working with a variety of standards and programmes including:
- VITAL Allergen Management, Food Fraud and Food Security
- HACCP, FSP and FCP
- AIB (Unannounced audits)
- Customer standards (WQA, McDonalds, PepsiCo, YUM)
- FSSC22000, ISO9001
I enjoy writing and reviewing HACCP plans, drafting procedures and systems, staff training and undertaking audits, including gap audits against new standards and encouraging continuous improvement projects.
Due to my diverse background, I can quickly get up to speed and contribute to the company I am assisting. I enjoy being able to play a part in our client achieving their quality and food safety goals.
ROBYN-ANNE TEAL - Technical Support Manager
We are very excited to have Robyn-Anne join the Produco team as Technical Support Manager. Here is a snapshot of what Robyn-Anne has to say about the role and herself…
Produco seemed to tailor-make this position for me. When I saw it advertised, I knew I had to apply.
I am an experienced professional who, prior to this role, provided Quality Assurance advice to the Horticulture industry for the accreditation of NZGAP. I provided training, shared information transfer, documentation to meet industry standards, advice and internal audits. I also facilitated and led workshops for Growers so that a sector can act as a group within the NZGAP scheme.
Working at Produco is my happy place, being able to draw on my Quality Assurance knowledge and organise the business activities and systems.
I have experience that places me in a unique position, combining experience in business systems across multi-disciplines and my knowledge of Quality Assurance. My experience lies in financial, business and strategy systems for large and small businesses across multiple sectors. Projects I have worked on include:
- Upgrade and Development work
- Implementation of new software (some custom builds where I sat on the project team and assisted with defining scope and process flow).
I look forward to working with some of you in the coming future.
