GROUP CERTIFICATION - Key Persons
Gerald A. Herrmann is a pioneer of the organic sector. He is a world-wide renowned specialist and organic industry expert and speaker.
After gaining his university degree in agriculture in 1985, he spent almost two decades shaping Naturland, an international farmers' association and private organic certifier: first as an organic farm consultant, then as its President and finally as its Executive Director. At the same time, he served voluntarily for nearly two decades in different capacities at the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements ("IFOAM"), including as its Vice President (1989-2005) and President (2005-2008). During his time at IFOAM, Gerald was also a member of the Accreditation Board, on which he worked to develop IFOAM's Accreditation Programme. This position, as well as other opportunities, have provided Gerald with the experience necessary to become an expert in the development of certification programs, supply chain traceability and integrity systems, as well as of organic markets worldwide.
Over the years, he has developed an extensive global network of contacts. Since 2004, he has been sharing his expertise within many international projects and conferences as the founding director of Organic Services.
Mildred Steidle has consistently proven herself as an expert in the development of certification programs, accreditation, quality management systems, internal auditing and internal control systems related to organic food. She is also highly-skilled and well-versed in the areas of communication, marketing and public relations.
Educated in agriculture, she has spent two decades developing her career at Naturland, an international farmers' association and private organic certifier: first as its Public Relations Manager and then as its Quality Manager.
Since 2004, Mildred is one of the founding directors of Organic Services. Within the consultancy, she has worked on a broad variety of studies and projects, dealing - amongst other things - with the development of a generic Fair Trade quality system, the requirements for certification bodies (situation and scope for harmonization - a joint initiative of IFOAM, the Food and Agriculture Organization ("FAO") and the UN Conference on Trade and Development), recommendations for international requirements for organic certification bodies (a joint initiative of IFOAM, FAO, and the UN Conference on Trade and Development).
Since 2006, Mildred has been organising the BIOFACH/VIVANESS Congress on behalf of NürnbergMesse GmbH, the sector's largest international knowledge and networking platform.