Consultant, auditor and trainer
Building and reviewing food safety systems, training teams and helping businesses prepare for certification.
About Bennii · BVRC
Hello, I’m Bennii.
Food Safety Consultant & Lead Auditor
I’m a food safety consultant, auditor and trainer. I work with food businesses on their food safety systems, whether that means doing an audit, training people or helping put the system in place.
Some clients need me for a once-off job. With others, I’ve worked with them over time and know their business and their people. There’s a place for both.
What we do together depends on what you need and how much your team can take on.
How I work
Early in my consulting career, I gave a training session and afterwards asked everyone to sign the attendance register. Some of the men could not write their names and signed with an X.
That stayed with me. In South Africa, people have not had the same opportunities to learn. I made a promise to myself that I would never knowingly put someone in a position where the work I do leaves them feeling ashamed.
That applies whether I’m working with a factory worker, a food safety team leader or management. You can ask questions. You can say you don’t know. If I don’t know, I’ll say so too, and we’ll find out.
I don’t need to be the cleverest person in the room or have the last word. We need to know whether the system works, whether the product is safe and whether we can explain our decisions.
I’m also direct. If something is wrong, I’ll say so. That includes how we speak to people. I treat people with the same respect whatever their position, and I expect the same.
The work we have to do is too important to beat each other down about. We can address problems and expect people to do their jobs without shaming them.
I enjoy working with people who want to work this way. What I ask is respect, a willingness to discuss the difficult things, and that the advice you contract me for is taken seriously.
“They know their process, or they are good at administration, and I teach them the science and the principles of managing food safety.”
My background
Risk, quality and compliance
Experience in food manufacturing, product safety, internal quality systems and laboratory operations.
Water safety planning
Water Safety Plans and stakeholder facilitation for Blue Drop compliance.
The kinds of businesses I work with
Wine & beveragesNuts & low-moisture foodsBakeriesSeafoodFruit & vegetablesFood-contact packaging
What do you need help with?
If you need an audit, training or help with a particular part of your system, that can be a once-off job. If you need ongoing help or a full implementation, we can discuss that too. We agree what I’ll do, what your team will do and the cost before we start.
Start with a WhatsApp message.
Send me a message with a bit about your business and what you need help with:
- What does your business do, and where are you based?
- What would you like help with?
- When do you need the work done?
- What budget have you allocated for this work?