Meet the AFIS Team
Learn about the AFIS team and their various positions within the company.
Graeme Dossetor Managing Director
When Graeme joined AFIS in 1989 as a production manager, he came from a civil engineering background which meant he had a lot of experience in overseeing costs, was able to look at things objectively, and focus on always making products that catered for customers’ changing demands.
“I invested in infrastructure such as bigger mixers and forklifts for the factory, new technologies and technical expertise in blending which allowed AFIS to work in partnership with our customers to develop customised flavours and colours for their businesses across many different industries: food, beverage, brewing, cosmetic and pharmaceutical.
“This investment in technology and expertise in blending has made AFIS more versatile, and helped with turnaround on orders.
“We try to help our customers wherever we can and we have a great knowledge base in our technical team. Although AFIS is price competitive, our business is built on taking our time to understand our customers’ businesses and working in partnership with them to develop new products that stand out in a crowded and highly competitive market.”
Graeme’s philosophy has always been to look after every person in the chain — AFIS customers, staff and AFIS suppliers.
“We’re a third generation family business but to be honest, all of our team feel like family. Everybody understands the business and is able to multitask, and every staff member has a strong working relationship with and looks after all of our customers. We also maintain great relationships with all of our suppliers.
“Our team ethos allows us to be quick off the mark and very responsive to our customers. We work together to come up with solutions – everyone has a part to play.
“We will always be firmly focused on our relationships with our customers, our people and our suppliers, because relationships are what lies behind the success of a family business like AFIS.”
Sue Marsh Technical Regulatory and Purchasing Manager
Even though AFIS’s Technical Regulatory and Purchasing Manager, Sue Marsh, has worked at AFIS for over 20 years now, every workday is still different… and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Starting at AFIS as Technical Assistant, over the years Sue has enjoyed building long lasting relationships with the many AFIS clients who she works in close partnership with.
‘It’s a great thing to work closely with our customers to formulate and deliver great tasting flavours that, in turn, help their businesses to grow as they use our flavours to create new and exciting products of their own,” says Sue.
Sue’s science degree in biotechnology, technological expertise and her curious nature make her well suited to the sometimes lengthy and exacting process of developing these new flavours.
“I really get a great deal of satisfaction from spending the time in the lab to perfect a flavour. Some flavours can take months or even years to develop, but as a curious person, I really like a challenge! Developing a flavour is really like doing a puzzle.”
The other main part of Sue’s work at AFIS is the role of purchasing manager — a position she also finds both very rewarding and challenging.
“The purchasing manager role is a different type of challenge. It’s a bit like looking into a crystal ball, working out exactly what we need and when … and how long it will take to get here. Lots of ingredients take time to be delivered, so it’s fortunate we have our own warehouse facility and lab on site. As a company, we are quite adaptable.”
Outside of work, Sue loves to garden, spend time with her family and friends and she likes to challenge herself in the kitchen, too!
“I really enjoy making fermented foods and beverages. There are so many options, I never met a fermented food I didn’t like, I have a very active Kombucha jar and even my favourite flavour, vanilla would not be possible if not for fermented vanilla beans.
“Vanilla enhances everything, it always makes it taste better and we have so many vanillas at AFIS to suit many different purposes.”
Lee Abrahams General Manager
Jay McKendrey
Technical Assistant
Graeme Dossetor Managing Director
When Graeme joined AFIS in 1989 as a production manager, he came from a civil engineering background which meant he had a lot of experience in overseeing costs, was able to look at things objectively, and focus on always making products that catered for customers’ changing demands.
“I invested in infrastructure such as bigger mixers and forklifts for the factory, new technologies and technical expertise in blending which allowed AFIS to work in partnership with our customers to develop customised flavours and colours for their businesses across many different industries: food, beverage, brewing, cosmetic and pharmaceutical.
“This investment in technology and expertise in blending has made AFIS more versatile, and helped with turnaround on orders.
“We try to help our customers wherever we can and we have a great knowledge base in our technical team. Although AFIS is price competitive, our business is built on taking our time to understand our customers’ businesses and working in partnership with them to develop new products that stand out in a crowded and highly competitive market.”
Graeme’s philosophy has always been to look after every person in the chain — AFIS customers, staff and AFIS suppliers.
“We’re a third generation family business but to be honest, all of our team feel like family. Everybody understands the business and is able to multitask, and every staff member has a strong working relationship with and looks after all of our customers. We also maintain great relationships with all of our suppliers.
“Our team ethos allows us to be quick off the mark and very responsive to our customers. We work together to come up with solutions – everyone has a part to play.
“We will always be firmly focused on our relationships with our customers, our people and our suppliers, because relationships are what lies behind the success of a family business like AFIS.”
Sue Marsh Technical Regulatory and Purchasing Manager
Even though AFIS’s Technical Regulatory and Purchasing Manager, Sue Marsh, has worked at AFIS for over 20 years now, every workday is still different… and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Starting at AFIS as Technical Assistant, over the years Sue has enjoyed building long lasting relationships with the many AFIS clients who she works in close partnership with.
‘It’s a great thing to work closely with our customers to formulate and deliver great tasting flavours that, in turn, help their businesses to grow as they use our flavours to create new and exciting products of their own,” says Sue.
Sue’s science degree in biotechnology, technological expertise and her curious nature make her well suited to the sometimes lengthy and exacting process of developing these new flavours.
“I really get a great deal of satisfaction from spending the time in the lab to perfect a flavour. Some flavours can take months or even years to develop, but as a curious person, I really like a challenge! Developing a flavour is really like doing a puzzle.”
The other main part of Sue’s work at AFIS is the role of purchasing manager — a position she also finds both very rewarding and challenging.
“The purchasing manager role is a different type of challenge. It’s a bit like looking into a crystal ball, working out exactly what we need and when … and how long it will take to get here. Lots of ingredients take time to be delivered, so it’s fortunate we have our own warehouse facility and lab on site. As a company, we are quite adaptable.”
Outside of work, Sue loves to garden, spend time with her family and friends and she likes to challenge herself in the kitchen, too!
“I really enjoy making fermented foods and beverages. There are so many options, I never met a fermented food I didn’t like, I have a very active Kombucha jar and even my favourite flavour, vanilla would not be possible if not for fermented vanilla beans.
“Vanilla enhances everything, it always makes it taste better and we have so many vanillas at AFIS to suit many different purposes.”
