CWA International Food Department



Food & Other Dry Commodities

·Key Personnel·	·Background·	·Scope of Services·	·Typical Projects·	·Example Cargoes·

Key Personnel


		The Food & Dry Commodities Group is a well established operation, dating back to its formation at CWA under Frazer Imrie in the late 80s. Having steadily expanded over the last 15 years, the group provides a comprehensive service dealing with all types of foodstuffs, beverages and related dry cargo shipped worldwide. Apart from its technical abilities, the group has considerable expertise in loss mitigation and is called upon to apply its operational and commercial knowledge to assist in food cargo salvage and disposal. The group is also engaged in food risk and related safety studies for the food industry and has been fully involved in major product recall claims.

		Frazer Imrie - Director Chartered Biologist, Fellow of the Institute of Biology and the Institute of Food Science & Technology. Joined CWA in 1991 and is head of our Food Department. With over 35 years in the food commodities industry, he has an extensive range of experience in the managing and quality control of bulk, bagged, refrigerated and frozen cargo including animal feed. Has worked extensively in incident response and claims analysis, and has expertise in commodity market analysis and loss mitigation. *Online CV*

		Frazer commands a core group of cargo surveyors and highly qualified scientists, all of whom have had extensive experience in food manufacturing and research.

		Floris Menting LLM - Associate Director Master Mariner with considerable international experience of dry cargo (especially food), damage surveys and incident investigation. Joined CWA in 1996. Expertise in the shipping of a wide range of commodities and foodstuffs including refrigerated cargoes, timber and grain, rice and other agricultural products. With a surveying career spanning 25 years, highly experienced in incident investigation, cargo salvage and cost mitigation issues. Online CV

		Graham Tow - Associate Director A Fellow of the Institute of Food Science & Technology, and a member of the Society of Expert Witnesses. Joined CWA in 2001 as a senior food consultant. Possesses a wide range of experience, particularly in dairy products, nuts, chilled and fresh foods. Expert in hazard identification, risk control, temperature controlled storage and perishable products within the food industry. Accredited assessor with considerable training experience. Online CV

		David Walker – Principal Consultant BSc (Hons) Applied Biology, MSc Applied Entomology, Fellow of the Institute of Biology. With over 35 years experience, has wide knowledge of the food industry and food products including grains, oilseeds, sugar, dates and other food commodities. Specialised knowledge of insects, fumigations and mycotoxins. Extensive experience in harvesting, handling, storage, quality and market management systems. Online CV

Dr Alan Legge - Senior Consultant. Chartered Biologist and very experienced applied food scientist with particular expertise in harvest and post-harvest systems of horticultural crops, extensive experience of all aspects of fruit horticulture including high-risk commodities (e.g. bananas) covering post-harvest storage, handling and transportation. Online CV.

Peter Ferner - Consultant. Member of the Society of Food Hygiene Technologists. Meat specialist with extensive experience in all aspects of meat processing, wholesale and retail quality control and valuation. His scope of knowledge extends across the sectors of fresh, chilled and frozen meat. Online CV

Dr Richard Hodges - Consultant. Doctorate in Experimental Zoology. Over 25 years experience as an applied food research scientist. Specialist in storage, pest management, post-harvest technologies and management systems. Experience includes 6 years full-time work as a pest and quality advisor to grain marketing boards in West Africa and South East Asia. Online CV

Dr John Orchard - Consultant. Doctorate in Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. Considerable international experience in the field of beverage, horticultural and cereal crops, with emphasis on post-harvest management. Over 7 years post-harvest fruit and vegetable training experience. Online CV


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Background

Food - Bananas

Food stuffs encompass all those supplies which are destined for human or animal consumption. The diversity is striking: grain shipped in bulk; bagged, packaged, drummed or bottled ingredients; processed food and beverages; and the important sub-category of 'reefer' cargoes for refrigerated and chilled food.

Food cargoes are susceptible to a unique set of risks because they are inherently perishable and prone to rapid deterioration. In many incidents, unless action is taken swiftly, losses will usually be significant if not total.

The work of CWA Food Department is extensive and covers all the high volume commodities stored and shipped in bulk – wheat, maize, corn, animal food, rice, pulses as well as the handling and shipment of fresh and frozen produce such as fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood. Its common purpose is to assist in the risk management of the safe and profitable international trade of these and allied foodstuffs.

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Scope of Services

Food cargoes can encounter many complex and unforeseen problems in transit because they are highly sensitive to their environment and handling. A particular area of CWA's expertise is dealing with reefer cargoes where we offer expert guidance in refrigeration and ventilation technology. The scope of services through our Food Department includes:

Advice on high risk cargoes - e.g. bananas Advice on the incidence of salmonella Cargo disposal & mitigation of loss Cargo self-heating incidents Commodity pricing studies Customised training Expert Witness Food regulation compliance Food safety & toxocological studies Forensic investigation of food spoilage Fungus & moulds	HACCP studies Incident investigation worldwide Independent sampling & testing Infestation & fumigation Investigation of cargo deterioration Investigation of cargo tainting incidents Moisture migration studies Perishable cargo preservation Reefer performance studies Stowage & ventilation Wet damage cargo surveys
The senior members of our Food team are frequently called upon to give expert advice in arbitration and court hearings.

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Typical Projects

Bananas Chinese Produce Cocoa Beans Confined Explosion Following Fumigation Crop Analyses Crop Trials Damaged Grain Cargoes	Expert Advice on Process Under-Performance of Food Processing Plant Meat Products Market Analysis Mitigation of Loss / Disposal of Deteriorated Food Cargoes Origin of Barnacles Potatoes Vietnamese Rice Cargoes


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Example Cargoes For a list of examples of the cargoes CWA has had experience in dealing with, click here.