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.”
Hayden Pohio Sales & Marketing Manager
In his role as Sales & Marketing Manager at AFIS, Hayden Pohio works in close partnership with AFIS’s customers, drawing both on his expertise as a food technologist, as well as his previous experience as a food manufacturer, running his own food business in New Zealand.
“I originally decided to study food technology thanks to my careers advisor at school. I had an aptitude for maths and science and a passion for food and health, so it was suggested that food technology might be a good fit for me, “says Hayden.
“After I graduated from university I developed my own sports nutrition bar using Manuka honey. My dad was a beekeeper, so knew all about the incredible health benefits of Manuka honey. I started selling my bars at local farmers markets, which then led to me setting up my own business manufacturing muesli bars and eventually selling them into supermarkets.”
After Hayden and his family decided to relocate to Australia for his wife’s work, he sold his NZ business to another company and joined the team at AFIS in a sales and marketing role.
“My work at AFIS is a technical sales role and it involves overseeing the sales of products, providing quotes to new customers, minimum order quantities, processing orders and answering product specification queries about what we can provide. Because of my keen interest in health trends, I’m very involved in the development side of our flavours too.
“Everyday I get to draw on my experience as a food manufacturer and my food technology background to understand our customer’s intended usage for our products, explain to them the capabilities of our products and help them find the best product for their end product.”
Hayden also is closely involved in quality checks for new customers and taste testing (of course!). If there is a problem, Hayden troubleshoots with the customer to help them find out whether it was a transportation or a storage issue or whether the product has not been used correctly.
“I really enjoy these customer interactions, listening and engaging with different stakeholders and trying to create a win/win scenario. We have a lot more freedom and flexibility as a smaller family-run business to respond to our customer’s needs.”
Food and health remain a big part of Hayden’s life outside of work too, and he is passionate about teaching his kids how to read food labels and eat healthy food. Hayden keeps fit by running, camping, kayaking … any chance for an adventure or to get outdoors,
It will probably come as no surprise that Hayden’s favourite AFIS flavour is 76.1026N Kiwi Fruit Flavour, a nod to his homeland across the ditch and his love of the delicious Golden Kiwi Fruits.
Sebastian Vella Technical Sales Assistant
After over a decade working as a chef, Sebastian’s experience in and passion for combining flavours lead him to work in food technology.
“I’ve had the privilege of working in some of Sydney’s top fine dining restaurants, as well as in corporate catering, where I gained a real understanding of how to combine flavours and what flavours work together.
“While I loved being a chef, I really wanted to learn more about the science behind food and transition to a career with more sociable hours, so I completed a Bachelor of Health Science, majoring in food and nutrition.”
Sebastian now works closely with Hayden Pohio, AFIS’s Sales and Marketing Manager, developing new flavours, overseeing technical sales and troubleshooting any customer queries.
“I love talking to customers, working out what flavours will appeal to their customers and then working out how to achieve the right flavour balance for the intended food product.
Sebastian also really enjoys the variety of work and the flexibility that comes with working in a family company where the staff have the flexibility, the freedom and the opportunity to grow … as well as help other businesses to grow too.
“As a chef, I’m used to working in small teams and multitasking, and here at AFIS, we are really hands on and we get to do everything. We all work closely together as a team, in partnership with all of our customers, and every day is different. ”
In his free time, Sebastian enjoys keeping fit and healthy by exercising, going to gym, taking long walks and spending time with his dog.
As for a favourite flavour, Sebastian finds it hard to choose just one, however he is particularly excited about a mocha flavour he is currently developing for an alcohol business.
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.”
Hayden Pohio Sales & Marketing Manager
In his role as Sales & Marketing Manager at AFIS, Hayden Pohio works in close partnership with AFIS’s customers, drawing both on his expertise as a food technologist, as well as his previous experience as a food manufacturer, running his own food business in New Zealand.
“I originally decided to study food technology thanks to my careers advisor at school. I had an aptitude for maths and science and a passion for food and health, so it was suggested that food technology might be a good fit for me, “says Hayden.
“After I graduated from university I developed my own sports nutrition bar using Manuka honey. My dad was a beekeeper, so knew all about the incredible health benefits of Manuka honey. I started selling my bars at local farmers markets, which then led to me setting up my own business manufacturing muesli bars and eventually selling them into supermarkets.”
After Hayden and his family decided to relocate to Australia for his wife’s work, he sold his NZ business to another company and joined the team at AFIS in a sales and marketing role.
“My work at AFIS is a technical sales role and it involves overseeing the sales of products, providing quotes to new customers, minimum order quantities, processing orders and answering product specification queries about what we can provide. Because of my keen interest in health trends, I’m very involved in the development side of our flavours too.
“Everyday I get to draw on my experience as a food manufacturer and my food technology background to understand our customer’s intended usage for our products, explain to them the capabilities of our products and help them find the best product for their end product.”
Hayden also is closely involved in quality checks for new customers and taste testing (of course!). If there is a problem, Hayden troubleshoots with the customer to help them find out whether it was a transportation or a storage issue or whether the product has not been used correctly.
“I really enjoy these customer interactions, listening and engaging with different stakeholders and trying to create a win/win scenario. We have a lot more freedom and flexibility as a smaller family-run business to respond to our customer’s needs.”
Food and health remain a big part of Hayden’s life outside of work too, and he is passionate about teaching his kids how to read food labels and eat healthy food. Hayden keeps fit by running, camping, kayaking … any chance for an adventure or to get outdoors,
It will probably come as no surprise that Hayden’s favourite AFIS flavour is 76.1026N Kiwi Fruit Flavour, a nod to his homeland across the ditch and his love of the delicious Golden Kiwi Fruits.
Sebastian Vella Technical Sales Assistant
After over a decade working as a chef, Sebastian’s experience in and passion for combining flavours lead him to work in food technology.
“I’ve had the privilege of working in some of Sydney’s top fine dining restaurants, as well as in corporate catering, where I gained a real understanding of how to combine flavours and what flavours work together.
“While I loved being a chef, I really wanted to learn more about the science behind food and transition to a career with more sociable hours, so I completed a Bachelor of Health Science, majoring in food and nutrition.”
Sebastian now works closely with Hayden Pohio, AFIS’s Sales and Marketing Manager, developing new flavours, overseeing technical sales and troubleshooting any customer queries.
“I love talking to customers, working out what flavours will appeal to their customers and then working out how to achieve the right flavour balance for the intended food product.
Sebastian also really enjoys the variety of work and the flexibility that comes with working in a family company where the staff have the flexibility, the freedom and the opportunity to grow … as well as help other businesses to grow too.
“As a chef, I’m used to working in small teams and multitasking, and here at AFIS, we are really hands on and we get to do everything. We all work closely together as a team, in partnership with all of our customers, and every day is different. ”
In his free time, Sebastian enjoys keeping fit and healthy by exercising, going to gym, taking long walks and spending time with his dog.
As for a favourite flavour, Sebastian finds it hard to choose just one, however he is particularly excited about a mocha flavour he is currently developing for an alcohol business.
