George Seifert, founder and president of Produce QA Consultants, LLC, has worked in the produce QA inspection business for over 25 years. Approximately six of those years were with the U.S.D.A., New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture with his primary responsibilities being produce inspection.

George then went to work for what is still one of the top produce retailers in the country, Wegmans Food Markets Inc. in Western New York. When he started with the company back in 1989, there were no detailed produce QA programs in place. When he left in 2009, he had been responsible for developing and implementing a state of the art program that continues to keep the company as one of the top produce retailers to this day.

Additionally, George is an expert banana ripener. He also has ripened pears, avocadoes, mangoes and papaya’s and knows all the intricacies of this extremely difficult process.

Throughout all the years George has been in the business, he has become quite diversified. While working in retail, he built solid relationships with many growers/shippers, wholesalers, distributors, brokers, importers and exporters. He has also worked closely with food safety and auditing personnel in the private and public sector, new item development opportunities, sales, logistics, operations, trucking, and ordering. He understands the business from the grower to the consumer and everything that needs to be done in-between.