ASC strengthens teams in German speaking areas and Programme Assurance

ASC has expanded its team working in the important markets of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, while also strengthening its Programme Assurance team with two new members.

In the German, Austrian and Swiss (DACH) region, Dennis Wittmann will take care of the concerns of partner companies and ASC supporters as Outreach Manager. Anna Nau will be responsible for consumer-oriented marketing activities as Marketing Manager. The aim is to further increase the range of ASC-certified products and the awareness and popularity of the label in the region.

Dennis Wittmann joined ASC in 2016, where he initially worked in the Standards Team and later as Assurance Coordinator in the then newly founded Program Assurance Team. His projects included the development of a new interpretation platform for auditors and producers, the development of farm IDs and the improvement of the report form, in order to improve and simplify the ASC audit process. Last month, Dennis started a new role, and as Outreach Manager he is the contact person for ASC supply chain partners in German-speaking countries.

His passion for aquatic organisms can be traced back to his childhood when he started collecting and cataloging mussels, sea snails and fish. He later studied biology and aquaculture at the University of Rostock. Dennis gained his first practical experience at the trout farm in Hohenwangelin.

Anna Nau also joined the ASC team in the German-speaking countries as Marketing Manager in late 2019. She has extensive experience in both marketing and the seafood industry. She worked at Nomad Foods Europe and Birds Eye/Iglo as Brand Manager for six years. Anna Nau holds a Masters in Marketing from Kingston University in London and recently completed additional training as an online marketing consultant. She also dealt with sustainability issues in the seafood industry in a previous role as Marketing Manager for the MSC.

At ASC, Anna Nau is responsible for consumer-oriented marketing activities and is the contact person for all marketing inquiries from ASC partner companies.

On January 1, 2020, Barbara Janker assumed overall responsibility for the ASC programme in German-speaking countries. In addition, as Regional Manager Europe, she will lead the European outreach team and develop the strategy for the further market penetration of the ASC in Europe.

The ASC’s Programme Assurance (PA) team also welcomed two new members recently, further strengthening the ASC’s work to continue to increase confidence in the ASC programme. Jennifer Glancy and Julie McDonald joined ASC at the start of the year, both previously worked for Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs).

The PA team works closely with CABs, which are the independent third-party organisations carrying out audits against ASC standards. The PA team is responsible for ensuring ASC standards are robustly and accurately applied, and as well as monitoring the programme they provide training and guidance to CABs.

Before ASC, Jennifer worked for 11 years in a leading CAB based in Ireland as an Auditor & Technical Manager. Jennifer was also the Scheme Manager for a number of globally recognised standards. Her role at the CAB included; technical review of audit reports, making certification decisions and also providing technical support and advice to auditors and internal team members.

Jennifer is a qualified lead auditor with a background in food safety. She was a full time auditor for seven years and in that time has audited globally across many standards including BRC Global Standard for Food Safety, ASC & MSC Chain of Custody, IFFO RS (Responsible Supply of Marine Ingredients) and Certified Quality Aquaculture standard. Jennifer has six years’ direct industry experience and started her career in the food industry as an Internal Auditor and Account Technical Manager.

Julie has over twenty years’ experience working in quality management system roles within the assurance, food and agriculture industry.  Julie worked for a CAB that specialised in fishery, supply chain and aquaculture certification for 12 years before joining ASC. Her most recent role as Technical Manager included the management and maintenance of the CAB’s Quality Management System, the design and development of documentation and processes to ensure accreditation and programme compliance, oversight of accreditation body and standard owner witness and office audits.

Some of the work that Jennifer and Julie will be leading will include developing the audit requirements for the ASC Feed Standard, and exploring systems for scaling up the ASC Improver Programme while maintaining its rigour.