Independent Leadership Team

Frank Massong

Director, Regulatory & Government Affairs

Frank has more than 40 years of experience in the production, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of food and agri-food products. Most of his experience stems from the development and implementation of food safety and quality standards, systems and tools applicable to the entire food continuum.

He has an in-depth knowledge of food technology and the regulatory framework in Canada and other countries. Frank has created, led and participated in numerous multi-stakeholder forums, and his experience in crisis management and collaboration between competing interests has benefitted both federal agencies and food industry organizations.

Janet Avery

Director, Health and Safety Claims Management

Janet has extensive experience in the preparation and development of health and safety, WHMIS, chemical safety and Workwell program policies and procedures. She assists clients in meeting WSIB Workwell requirements for their first and/or second audit and helps companies identify gaps in their health and safety procedures and programs.

She holds both Certified Public Health Inspector and Certified Registered Safety Professional designations and serves on several health and safety committees.

Wolf von Brisinski

Director, Process Flow and Productivity

Wolf is a seasoned master pastry chef and baker, and has nearly 50 years of international baking experience. His strengths lie in production management and improvement, assessment, planning, research and development, and the training of staff to increase the quality and profitability of a company’s business by identifying labour waste and inefficiencies in production.

He has worked with national ingredient manufacturers, bakery and pastry retailers, and frozen dough and cake manufacturers in the development and implementation of purchasing and inventory control systems, production schedules, shipping and receiving procedures, quality assurance, sanitation procedures, and HACCP plans.

Currently, Wolf is involved with various trade groups and industry associations in Canada, the latter of which include the Baking Association of Canada and the Canadian Pastry Chef’s Guild.

Foster Frable, B.Arch, MA, Foodservice and Hotel Administration

Director, Foodservice and Bakery Design

Since 1983, Foster has personally designed over 300 foodservice projects ranging from five-star restaurants, hotels, colleges, and health care facilities to central food production systems and commissaries.

Prior to entering the field of consulting, Foster was the director of facilities engineering for a major international hotel chain where he provided in-house consulting services to kitchens, laundries, vertical transport, and materials-handling systems. There, he participated in various hotel and resort projects in the Middle East, Europe and South America. Prior to this, Foster spent seven years as an instructor at Pennsylvania State University where he taught food service facilities planning and operations. Concurrently, he was also a partner in a 120-seat gourmet restaurant, and for four years was as an architectural engineer designing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems for a variety of restaurant projects in the US.

For nearly two decades, Foster has written a monthly column about equipment and facilities for several trade publications, and is a guest speaker at dozens of national conferences related to the foodservice industry.

Brendan Murphy, BSc (Hons)

Director, Food Safety and Microbiology

Brendan has extensive experience working as a quality control and research and development microbiologist in the food industry. He has worked on several research projects developing novel biocides and application technologies, and has served as a senior microbiologist in a technical support capacity. Over the past thirty years, he has worked with a variety of customers in the food industry, and has extensive experience with the types of problems encountered by food sanitarians.

Brendan has been a registered specialist microbiologist with the Canadian College of Microbiologists since 1984, a member of the American Society for Microbiology since 1985, involved with the International Association for Food Protection since 1987, and a member of the Ontario Food Protection Association (OFPA) since 1983.

Gary Fread

Director, Strategic Planning

Gary is an independent consultant who focusses on strategic management issues in the food and beverage sector. Much of his work is concentrated in market analysis and strategic plan development, value chain management, and increased corporate competitiveness through innovation, productivity improvement, and sustainability.

Gary’s experience includes 25 years in sales, logistics, purchasing and technical areas within the food processing industry, including roles as vice president, general manager and chief technical officer for several packaged goods and food manufacturer industry leaders. From 2005 to 2009, Gary was the president & CEO of the Guelph Food Technology Centre. He is active in many food industry associations and organizations and serves on several related boards.

Helge Kittelsen

Director, Traceability Solutions

Helge is an international pioneer in global traceability systems and services. He has extensive international business leadership experience in both the private and public sectors. He spent over 12 years in the IT industry where he held management positions in international marketing, sales and business development focussing on global system solutions in the areas of supply chain management, EDI and e-commerce.

Helge served for 10 years as Norwegian Trade Commissioner to Canada, Germany and the US where he led teams of consultants working extensively with Norwegian businesses, industry and research sectors in their internationalization efforts. He has been involved in sustainability efforts including energy-from-waste solutions, for the North American market.

James Burgess

Director, Business and Financial Planning

James has over 25 years of leadership experience in the business management counselling and financial service industries. He has generated practical, sustainable solutions for business owners to overcome their operational challenges and improve their financial performance. His solutions address the collaborative development of business plans, which correctly identify and prioritize focus, improve the quality of business decisions, and align entire organizations with their desired business outcomes. James specializes in business and financial planning as a management system. 

He is a fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers, an accredited associate of the Institute for Independent Business, and holds affiliate, directorship and advisory board roles locally within Ontario.

Tracy Lamb

Director, Agri-Food and Wellness Communications

Tracy has extensive experience with all parts of the value chain, from producer and retailer to influencer and consumer. She understands the market and the many issues which can arise along the food value chain. Tracy has broad-spectrum senior management expertise in agriculture and food marketing, including overall marketing communications planning, branding, public relations, advertising and mediation. Her experience has enabled her to develop innovative programs and partnerships which create awareness, change attitudes and motivate new behaviours.

Tracy provides strategic value and helps clients develop and implement processes and tools to support nationwide best practices and relevant solutions which are perfectly aligned with their business objectives. Her accomplishments include the development and implementation of strategies, processes and tools to support local and nationwide communications with agri-food producers, consumers, retail, and the foodservice trade. Tracy has served on the board of governors for the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution and as a director on various other national and regional boards.

Cristian Barcan

Director, Sustainability Solutions

Cristian has extensive sustainability and traceability experience built over several years as a global project manager for an international chemical leader. He has held various project and business management positions in information technologies, e-commerce, marketing, human and animal nutrition, and agricultural products. Further expertise includes branding, marketing concept design and certification setup using sustainability metrics, traceability in various food and agricultural market segments, and traceability design and implementation.

Cristian participated in the written draft of the GS1 Global Traceability Standard and the GS1 Global Traceability Compliance document, and has led sustainability and whole-chain traceability focused discussions—supported by CIES, IFT, PMA, GS1, NIAA, GMA, the US Food Safety Summit, and the Food Traceability Summit—with top leaders at the FDA, USDA, Department of Homeland Security, EPA, and the European Union.

Colin Doe

Director, Defense and Security Systems

Colin is the president and CEO of a national provider of integrated security systems for corporate, institutional and commercial clients. With over 20 years of security industry experience, Colin continues to innovate and educate clients, employees and stakeholders, helping to protect their assets against internal and external threats.

Colin is an active member of the American Society of Industrial Security, and applies his industry experience to educate clients in the application of security solutions. Colin has also served on the board of directors and the executive committee of the Innovators Alliance, an Ontario not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping high-growth entrepreneurs foster profitable growth through innovation.

Ivana Strgacic

Director, Environmental and Corporate Social Responsibility

Ivana is an environmental and occupational health and safety specialist, focussing on management systems and regulatory compliance. She has over 15 years of experience helping organizations achieve compliance, through audits and report preparation, with environmental and occupational health and safety regulatory standards across Canada and in some US jurisdictions. As part of the implementation process, Ivana facilitates and trains an organization's teams and also conducts gap analysis and internal audits.

Ivana's experience encompasses many industries including utilities, chemical manufacturing, food processing, metal and plastic fabrication, automotive parts manufacturing, pulp and paper and mining, among others. Ivana is a certified EMS, QMS and OHSMS lead auditor.

Cynthia Weber, BSc

Director, Training 

Cynthia has over 15 years of experience with both quality management and food safety management systems. She is a former IRCA-certified lead auditor for ISO 9001, and is currently certified by RAB as an auditor for ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000. Her expertise includes design and delivery of training programs, including online training and group training sessions. She has developed numerous courses to assist customers to prepare their staff and companies for certification in a range of management systems.

Cynthia has a BSc in microbiology, has been registered by IRCA as an ISO 9001 lead assessor in the food and beverage industry, and is currently registered by RAB as an auditor for ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000. She participated in US TAG to TC 176, and has led numerous quality system implementation projects in the food industry as well as others. Her training and documentation tools are used worldwide.