Quality Controller – Commercial Beekeeping

Role Overview

This position places you at the heart of a commercial beekeeping operation, where you will safeguard product integrity from the hive through to the final packaged good. Day to day, you will inspect raw honey and derived products, verify processing and storage conditions, and work alongside beekeepers and production staff to ensure every batch meets rigorous food safety and quality criteria. Your vigilance directly protects consumer trust and brand reputation, making you an essential link between field operations and market-ready goods.

Key Responsibilities

• Carry out routine and ad-hoc inspections of honey and bee products at intake, during processing, and before dispatch, assessing characteristics such as moisture content, colour, viscosity, and visible impurities.
• Enforce strict hygiene protocols across production areas, ensuring all equipment, containers, and handling practices align with food safety regulations.
• Maintain detailed quality records, including batch traceability data, testing results, and non-conformance logs, and update these systems promptly and accurately.
• Investigate any quality deviations, identify root causes, and propose practical corrective and preventive actions to stop recurrence.
• Work with management to verify compliance with relevant food safety standards and regulatory requirements, including participation in internal audits and external inspections.
• Deliver hands-on training to beekeeping and processing teams on quality expectations, personal hygiene, and safe handling techniques.
• Review raw material supplies, in-process product, and finished goods, plus storage conditions such as temperature and humidity, to confirm continued suitability.
• Prepare clear, concise quality reports for management, highlighting trends, risks, and opportunities for system improvement.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Agriculture, Horticulture, Quality Management, Food Technology, Agribusiness, or a directly related discipline.
• At least five years of hands-on experience in commercial beekeeping, honey processing, or a comparable agricultural or food-production environment where quality control was a core responsibility.
• Solid working knowledge of honey-specific quality attributes, including natural variability, extraction and filtration effects, crystallisation behaviour, and proper storage conditions.
• Demonstrated familiarity with QA/QC methodologies, documentation practices, and inspection techniques.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with keen attention to detail and the capacity to interpret data and spot emerging issues.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, enabling productive collaboration with beekeepers, line operators, suppliers, and senior leadership.
• Formal training or certification in HACCP, ISO 22000, or other food safety management systems is considered a significant advantage.