Meet Setonde Miguel Marcel
About you
I currently work for Caro Nut, as Cashew Food Safety Lead for origin development program. Caro Nut is a roasting company based in Fresno, California, US and supplies a wide variety of nuts from a reliable and sustainable supply network throughout the world, particularly in Asia (Vietnam), Africa (East and West), America (Brazil and Peru) and Europe.
Why did you join the BRCGS Professional Programme?
I joined the BRGCS professional program in order to improve/update my understanding on the subject, and be able to address food safety challenges in food supply chains. This will help me to educate/support, our suppliers mainly food processors in Africa, on the importance of food safety in supply chains, benefits of food safety management systems and help them in implementing a GFSI scheme like BRCGS.
What value do you personally feel the BRCGS Professional certification brings to you?
The BRGCS Professional certification empowers me to implement food safety programs with needed surety and confidence. I will be able to guide our suppliers food safety teams with better tools and hands on solutions on their related needs. This will be a big value proposition for our food processors. Besides this, I am proud of my personal achievement and being one of the reliable BRCGS experts in Africa.
How has/will the recognition programme impacted your work?
This program helps me to build trust with partner companies and contribute to the development of other food safety professionals as a mentor and advisor to peers within the food industry.
How did you get to your current role?
I started in the public sector as an auditor at Beninese Agency for Standardization and Quality Management and managed the development and dissemination of Beninese standards, and certification of products. I worked later as laboratory technician at AfricaRice (CGIAR research center) in the processing of parboiled rice, quality control of rice and assessment of morphological properties and technologies of rice varieties. Since joining CARO NUT in 2013, I work with several Cashew processing factories over Africa to get access to international market by thorough improvement of the quality of their product and implementation of Food Safety Management System in accordance to GSFI scheme and exporting countries requirements.
What is your educational background?
I hold a Master’s degree in Standards and Quality Control of Agro-Food Products and am going to start PhD.
What are your career ambitions/aims?
My aim is to bring food industries to the best possible level of food safety to minimize hazards in supply chains and provide the world with safe food. I want to train and help more food industries to be compliant. I would like to keep upgrading my knowledge to help sector bodies/institutions in Africa to better understand their food safety needs, in order to develop policies to address food safety problems and work towards attaining the highest possible level of food safety.
Become a BRCGS Professional
Join a global community of food safety and quality professionals, build your expertise through BRCGS training, and gain the knowledge and recognition to support businesses in strengthening standards, managing risk and driving continual improvement.