Our People

B.Comm (Finance)

Grant comes from a finance background after spending 11 years as a currency derivative trader and risk manager in London, New York and the Far East working for well known institutions as Credit Suisse and Citibank.

In 2001 Grant moved back to New Zealand to pursue a career in farming. As a dedicated farmer Grant first saw the value that Oritain can provide by helping protect the investment that farmers make in producing top quality products.

Rupert has joined Oritain after holding senior positions in Financial Institutions in the City of London, most recently as CEO of TFS London, a leading global financial brokerage firm. Rupert's expertise in risk management assists our customers to pro-actively manage the risks of food fraud. Rupert is based in the London office where he leads the UK team.

With 20 years experience in accounting and finance, Ben is well suited to the newly created role of CFO. He has worked with a range of businesses from the very large (KPMG, Shell, Deakin University) to the very small across multiple industries. He enjoys helping non-accountants understand finance concepts and providing business insights through data analysis. Challenging the status quo and asking "why?" are important parts of Ben's role. Having recently moved from Australia, Ben is excited to be a part of the Oritain journey and working across the business to realise our vision.

PhD Chemistry

Kiri has a background in Analytical Chemistry and Forensic Science including statistics. Kiri's role at Oritain involves driving innovation and development to keep Oritain at the cutting edge of food origin science. Kiri's PhD research looked at the analysis of honey for origin authentication. During this time he was a Teaching Fellow at the University of Otago in forensic science. Kiri has been a technical expert for the International Atomic Energy Agency in Nuclear Techniques for food authentication. During this time Kiri contributed to the text "New Analytical techniques in Food Authentication" by Brereton. Kiri enjoys tramping and the outdoors and is also an instructor in Shukokai Karate.

Sandon has joined Oritain to manage the Australian business. A large part of his career to date has been with Nestle, the biggest food and beverage company in the world, where he worked with and managed global brands including Nescafe and Milo. As a member of a fourth generation farming family (broadacre cropping and cattle grazing) and with experience in aquaculture, horticulture, agriculture and FMCG, he is passionate about the future of food and fibre production and supply.

When not working Sandon enjoys spending time at the beach with his young family, paddling hisocean racing ski, and returning to the country to spend time with family.

B.Sc Hons Chemistry

Shay grew up in Central Otago and moved to Dunedin to study chemistry at Otago University. Since completing her honours degree in 2011, Shay been working as a Laboratory Technician. Outside of work she enjoys running, cycling, all things outdoors, and playing guitar. Shay's key responsibility at Oritain is to prepare the many sample types we have for analytical analysis.

Julie has a background in banking in both New Zealand and Australia. Julie is responsible for supporting the team with the office administration and to make sure this runs smoothly and effortlessly.

B.Sc Chemistry and Physiology, M.Sc Chemistry

Josh has a background in Analytical Chemistry with his MSc research focusing on measuring various chemical parameters in saffron, mainly for the purposes of origin authentication. Josh's role at Oritain includes sample preparation, data analysis, interpretation and reporting, development and design of traceability solutions and supporting the senior scientists. Josh originates from Auckland and moved to Dunedin to study at the University of Otago. His main interests include a wide range of sports and outdoor activities and socializing.

BSc in Environmental Science, PhD in Chemical Oceanography

Kate has a background in earth systems sciences and biochemical modelling. She completed her undergraduate studies in her home state of North Carolina at UNC-Chapel Hill. After studying abroad at the University of Otago, she later returned there to complete her PhD at the Department of Chemistry. She joined Oritain after completing a post-doctoral research stint at the University of Tasmania.

Aside from research, Kate has also worked in a variety of positions ranging from SCUBA diver, environmental engineer for a dewatering company, and casual worker for her inlaws' sheep and cattle farm.

Certificate in Business Administration & Computing.

Kate has come from a mining background, born in Dunedin and has lived here her whole life. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with family, running, diving and fishing.

LLB, BCom in Strategy and Entrepreneurship

Stew joined the Oritain team after just completing a double degree in Law and Commerce majoring in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Canterbury. He has a passion for business strategy and development and his role in the Oritain team is a Sales and Projects Manager.

He grew up on a dairy farm near Methven in the Canterbury region and in his spare time loves getting outdoors playing rugby, skiing, fishing and diving

Originally from Australia, Nick has been in New Zealand for 11 years. Nick began his career with the Hill Laboratories in Hamilton occupying a number of roles from Technician through to Manager of Procurement and Facilities. Having worked in analytical laboratories for almost a decade, Nick has gained valuable experience and enjoyed building relationships with customers and suppliers.

Nick loves to scuba dive and travel; as happy as he is with his move to sunny Dunedin he's even happier to have landed a job that allows him to leave it fairly frequently to collect our clients samples from the field.

Olya has a background in Marine Biochemistry. Prior to taking up the position of scientist at Oritain, Olya worked in oceanographic institutions and departments in Russia, USA, Bermuda and New Zealand. Olya now leads the science team at Oritain. She is passionate about using her scientific skills for improving food security around the world. 

After 30 years in financial broking and restaurant ownership in London, Ian brings to Oritain his extensive network of connections with the Master chefs and Senior alumni in the Food and Financial sectors. When not with his four daughters, as an Ex Harlequin he may be found at the their ground or flyfishing in Hampshire and Scotland.

Ben joined the UK office after graduating with a BA in Business and Management with first class honours from the Henley Business School. Having studied an array of subjects from money markets and foreign exchange to international finance and business strategy, Ben is looking to develop the breadth of Oritain's accounts whilst also having a client-focused role.

Ben is a keen sportsman having rowed crew for Reading University Boat Club, but now enjoys going to the gym, playing golf and skiing.

Miguel has a background in Food Safety and Business Management. He has worked for several companies in the United Kingdom and Spain, helping them to develop new commercial strategies and concepts, using his knowledge of the food industry and the grocery markets.

He has joined the business development team at Oritain to engage with new clients in Europe.

B.Sc Mathematics, B.Sc Hons Statistics

Originally from Nelson, Georgia moved to Dunedin to study mathematics and statistics at the University of Otago. In 2016, she completed a B.Sc Hons in statistics where she investigated new approaches to dimension reduction and classification methods to apply to Oritain datasets. Georgia joins Kiri in the Research & Development team to help introduce new statistical methods and extend Oritain's capabilities.

Outside of work she enjoys swimming, cycling, travelling and spending time with family and friends.

Originally from France, Ben joins the Oritain team in the Dunedin office. Having worked for Oritain 3 years ago he is now back apart of a larger team. Outside of work Ben enjoys playing Ice hockey and represents Dunedin in the Dunedin Thunder team.

Lucinda joins Oritain after spending the last 15 years working in the FMCG industry. After graduating from University of Otago she joined Sealord working in Trade Marketing, Sales and Account management before heading to London. The last 10 years Lucinda has worked for Procter and Gamble in London and Auckland, looking after customers including Boots, Tesco UK/Ireland, Foodstuffs and Progressive. Lucinda is excited to be joining the Oritain team, and can't wait to help deliver real value to her customer portfolio. Lucinda is also very pleased to be working for a local Dunedin company, she grew up in Dunedin and pleased to be back home with her young family after 15 years away. Her downtime is usually entails activities with her two children, spending time with friends & family, and enjoying great food and wine.

Kate is from Wellington and moved to Dunedin to study Science, graduating with a B.Sc Hons in Genetics from the University of Otago in 2009. Following on from this Kate spent four years undertaking research projects in viral gene therapy and immunotherapy at the University of Otago.

In 2012 Kate moved to Auckland to join the commercial side of scientific research, working with In Vitro Technologies and then Life Technologies (now part of ThermoFisher Scientific) managing key academic and diagnostic accounts for the Auckland region. After six months travelling around Asia with her partner, Kate is now based in the U.K. office where she manages the pharmaceutical business for Oritain.

When not at work Kate enjoys travelling, scuba diving, mountain biking, hiking and snowboarding.

Devonia is originally from the Netherlands, where she completed an MSc in Human Nutrition. As part of her MSc program at Wageningen University (NLD) she did an internship at the University of Otago in 2012. Her internship turned into a recently completed PhD project in which she looked at the feasibility of using stable isotope analyses in hair and blood samples as alternative objective measures of sugars intake in New Zealand populations. She’s excited to get the opportunity to apply and expand her knowledge gained in the area of product provenance.

Outside work, you will find Devonia mainly outdoors: swimming, preferably open water, riding down the various Dunedin mountain bike tracks, and occasionally running.

Karen grew up in Peru and moved to the UK to join the team as Operations Support Executive. She graduated with an MBA degree from INCAE Business School with an emphasis on Operations and Sustainability. Karen’s previous role involved working with several food manufacture companies in Latin America, supporting them to develop and maintain their Quality and Safety Certifications. Karen’s key responsibility is to support the UK team with sampling and logistics.

Outside of work, she is passionate about cooking traditional Peruvian food, travelling and spending time with her family. 

Charlotte carried out a summer internship with Oritain before completing her final year at Bournemouth University where she graduated with a BSc Hons in Nutrition. Charlotte’s degree led her to have a keen interest in food and the related science. The exciting and fast paced nature of the business made her eager to return to Oritain as Operations Support Executive. Charlotte’s role at Oritain involves supporting with operations and logistics at our UK office.

Outside of work Charlotte spends her time participating in fitness classes and spending time with family and friends.