About Us
.jpg)
Silke Fuchshofen
I worked for a forwarding agency in Hamburg, Germany, and then moved on to complete an apprenticeship on three different farms, organic and nonorganic. After that a BSc in Agriculture.
In the US, I worked for certifiers, did almost 800+ organic processing inspections, worked as bookkeeper, organic certification presenter and teacher, and as consultant I have helped numerous operations to obtain NOP certification, navigate adverse actions, or get reinstated.
I have a neck for systems; how organic compliance success is based in administrative systems. Traceability and Fraud Prevention are my specialties.
I also participated in the compliance program Fair Trade Sustainability Alliance (FairTSA) and still work on a contractor basis for FairTSA.
Winfried Fuchshofen
Winfried started Organic Insights, Inc, and still acts in the background. Occasionally we team up on a project.
He has a Ph.D. in organic agriculture and was a consultant to organic certifiers, farms, businesses and other organizations for 20 or so years. His last project was the development of the Fair Trade Sustainability Alliance (FairTSA) and currently he is CEO of the business arm, Fair Trade Sustainability Partners.
Winfried works with an international network of organic certification agencies, producers and traders. He is available for strategic consulting, long-term solutions to sourcing and sustainable supply chains. He writes articles for US and German publications, can be contracted for speaking engagements.
As for his roots in organic? Winfried was instrumental in the development of the first ever B.Sc. program in Organic Agriculture in 1993/94. This course at the University of Kassel, Germany, later received an award for innovation in teaching and learning by the German Ministry of Education. He co-developed and taught the very successful 1-year course "Conversion to Organic Farming". In this study course, a group of students visited a farm to analyze all aspects relevant to conversion to organic. They researched options and discussed possible solutions with the the farmer families. The result was a complete Conversion Plan.
