Gina Kretschmer

My journey in quality assurance began almost 20 years ago when I started as a quality assurance tech at Marathon Cheese in 2007 after doing some line work. I worked third shift for 9 years total while finishing my bachelor's degree, driving 30 minutes to class 4 days a week after work and squeezing in naps between work, school, and taking my son to daycare. After completing my associate's and bachelor's degrees, I moved into production supervision for 6 years, thinking I wanted to become a plant manager. In 2019, I returned to quality management at Abbeyland, where I managed 3 facilities in the meat industry, which was completely new to me after working in cheese. My boss there taught me all the food science knowledge that I didn't get from textbooks and made me love what I do. I then moved to Schumann Cheese before taking a director role at Wiscursion, which was later purchased by another company. Now I'm excited to start as Director of Quality at Nutritiva Global, a family-owned business where I'll be working directly with the first-generation owners and their children to help grow their cranberry processing operation. I hold certifications as a PCQI, HACCP, internal auditor, and SQF practitioner, and I've progressed from tech to manager to director over my 7 years in quality management.