The Produce Marketing Association Australia-New Zealand’s (PMA A-NZ) Technology Manager Richard Bennett has received an award for Excellence in Food Safety. Bennett was recognised for his work over the last two decades in championing the improved understanding and adoption of food safety and quality management in the fresh produce sector.
At the 2014 HACCP Awards in Sydney recently, Bennett received the Ross Peters Memorial Award for Excellence in Food Safety. He is commended for his guidance, research management, resource design, and communication.
Michael Worthington, CEO of PMA A-NZ says the award is well-deserved: “Richard is an extremely worthy recipient of this award; he has worked tirelessly over 20 years to champion food safety in the fresh produce sector and it is fantastic that he has been recognised for this,” he said.
“Australasia has built a globally-recognised reputation for producing safe, high quality fresh produce and it is largely due to diligent producers working in concert with experts like Richard. Not only having him as part of our team but Richard’s ongoing involvement in the recently-established Fresh Produce Safety Centre will ensure that our region proactively maintains this reputation,” Worthington added.
Bennett is currently the Technology Manager at PMA A-NZ, where his role covers all areas of food safety, traceability and technology. He is also a regular food safety contributor on the PMA A-NZ blog at www.pma-anz.com/blog. In addition, he works closely with the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, and industry stakeholders at the Fresh Produce Safety Centre for Australia and New Zealand.
