Post-harvest Seminar & Orchard Tour

Gavin Ger is responsible for commercial partnerships at Laava.  Gavin‘s career spans over 25 years in management and technology consulting – helping businesses around the world improve their business performance. Gavin‘s other business interests include helping to launch two financial services start-ups, as well as building two businesses of his own from the ground up.

Nardia has been engaged in the WA Fruit Industry for over eight years. She was the Executive Officer for the Fruit West Co-operative, managers of the Australian commercialisation of the new BRAVO™ apple and was responsible for the sale of over 500,000 trees across Australia and introducing the apple to the Australian, Asian and UAE markets. She decided to return full-time as Pomewest Executive Manager in June 2019 after performing dual roles for over 4 years. Pomewest is a Committee of growers sitting under the WA Agricultural Produce Commission, responsible to serve WA Pome Growers under a Fee-For-Service arrangement to manage projects, admin and communications. She has also recently been appointed to the HIA Strategic Marketing Panel to assist with deciding the future directions for the national industry for marketing.

Chris joined the APAL Board in October June 2016 as APAL’s director for pears. Chris is a well-known member of the apple and pear industry having previously worked at Geoffrey Thompson Fruit Packaging Co Pty Ltd as their Coles Account Manager. Prior to that, Chris worked for National Fresh, a division of the Costa Group. Chris has a growing background, starting his career with the Fairless Group of Companies where he oversaw operations of orchard properties, cold storage, logistics and transport facilities both Victoria and Tasmania. Chris has previously been the President of the Shepparton Fruit Growers Association and the Apple & Pear Growers Association of Australia. Chris also works closely with supermarkets and has extensive supply chain knowledge.

Harvey Giblett is the owner of prominent WA pome fruit production, packaging and marketing company – Newton Orchards of Manjimup.  Harvey was also the recent recipient of the APAL Lifetime Achievement award in June 2019.  Harvey’s five properties together produce the second largest fruit tonnage in WA approx. 7000 tonne across a number of varieties supplying fruit into WA, the East Coast and Export markets.  He has championed efforts to lift the quality standards of apples in WA and is keen to re-establish a flourishing export market for WA grown apples to boost and sustain the local industry.

Kevin currently works in the area of pesticide regulation and risk assessment. He has over thirty-five years’ experience in various aspects of pest management, pesticide use and regulation while working in both government and private enterprise. He currently works as a consultant providing technical and regulatory input to Australian agricultural industries, government agencies, RDCs and internationally with the FAO.

Virginia has worked in the horticulture industry for over 20 years, either as a researcher and lecturer or in production and retail nurseries. She gained her PhD in plant physiology and microbiology before working in postharvest research at Knoxfield’s Horticultural Research Institute for several years. From 2011-2018, Virginia worked at the University of Melbourne, where she taught subjects in plant biology and plant protection and received two Faculty teaching awards. She has supervised numerous postgraduate students and recently published some of that apple research internationally. From 2019, Virginia has combined consultancy work with teaching Science part-time at Deakin and Monash Universities.

Tito Spaldi is the Export Manager for Isolcell’s controlled atmosphere technology used in more than 60 countries worldwide. After growing up in the South Tyrol region of Italy, Europe’s biggest single Apple growing area and living in the UK, France, and Germany, it was clear to Tito Spaldi that he had to do something involving “top fruit” with an international aspect. After introducing dynamic controlled atmosphere – chlorophyll fluroescence (DCA-CF) into Australia in 2014 the system now boasts nearly 200 commercial rooms a number which has been growing every year. The DCA-CF system is a major advancement in storage technology for apples and pears and the outstanding past results in Victoria have meant that other regions such as WA, SA, QLD, NSW and Tasmania are poising themselves to adopt this technology.

Dr S.P. Singh is a Horticultural Food Safety Scientist at the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. He leads a ‘Horticultural Food Safety Research Program’ that is aimed to mitigate food safety risks to horticultural industries and consumers. His current research focuses on developing new methods for postharvest sanitisation of fresh produce and providing scientific evidence-based best practice to the industry. His technical skills and expertise in identifying the sources and routes of microbial contamination in the fresh produce sector are recognised by industry, academia and regulators. As part of the Hort Frontiers project, his research team is working on developing supercharged air technology for postharvest application in apples to improve food safety outcomes.

Jenny is a post-harvest physiologist and communicator who is passionate about maximising produce freshness, safety and value while minimising supply chain losses. Her specialty is studying, interpreting and applying science to improve commercial and consumer outcomes. Jenny’s projects have tested food safety, overcome quarantine barriers, and delivered better transport and storage systems for Australian fresh produce. She has worked for CSIRO, NSW DPI, and lectured at the University of Western Sydney Hawkesbury (UWSH) and University of Sydney. When not obsessing about the quality and safety of fruit and vegetables, Jenny loves nothing better than cycling or motorbiking through the countryside.

Elizabeth has a degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Tasmania. She is a food safety consultant in Perth with extensive experience in diagnostic microbiology and risk management for the food industry, including the seafood, meat and horticulture sectors. Having established and managed Microserve Laboratory (now Merieux) for 12 years, Elizabeth is now undertaking a PhD research project with UTas and ARC Training Centre for Food Safety in the Fresh Produce Industry. The project is identifying the key areas of risk management in orchards and packhouses to develop quantitative risk assessment tools so that industry can determine the effect on risk from inputs and practices and the relativity of their importance with respect to Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157 and Salmonella.

Rose Elphick-Darling is a Research Fellow of the Centre for Supply Chain and Logistics at Deakin University. Rose has a background in executive management, project management and public policy in the areas of transport infrastructure, strategic planning, freight and logistics. She has led numerous programs and projects to deliver supply chain improvements, strategic investment in freight networks and to develop capacity in industry sectors and individual firms. Rose has been an industry advisor to governments and has extensive experience in bridging industry-government relations on key supply chain issues.

Rose currently leads the Deakin Food Traceability Research Laboratory, part of Deakin University’s Future Food capability.

Tristan is an ex-retailer, having previously held senior positions with Sainsbury’s (UK) and Coles supermarkets, and is now a management consultant providing advice and support along the grocery value chain, from major retailers through to manufacturers and primary producers. He has a focus upon fresh foods and was the Group Merchandise Manager, Fresh Produce, at Coles Supermarkets (2005-09).

Tristan has his own consulting business, Kitchener Partners Pty Ltd, focused upon providing strategic and advisory support. Increasingly Tristan assists businesses understand the implications of the changing retail and consumer environment, and helps identify solutions to key business challenges.

Tristan is a strong advocate for supply chain members collaborating more closely to better understand and meet the needs of the consumer. He believes that this can be most effectively achieved by transferring learning from other markets and sectors.

Tristan is a regular speaker at industry conferences, and appears as a sector expert in shows such as Switzer Daily on Sky TV. He has worked with a range of businesses including major and independent retailers, manufactures, private equity firms, state and federal government and other SMEs. Tristan’s formal qualifications include a MBA, MPhil Horticulture Management and BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences.

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