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Dutchman Brings 25 years of Food Diagnostics Technology Experience to South East Asia
Dirk van Dam knows food safety diagnostics and technology.
For over 25 years, he has worked with food quality diagnostics, including testing kits for Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), the living cell indicator that something dirty still exists on an otherwise clean-looking surface—essential knowledge for the food industry. Most recently, Van Dam was with MCS in the Netherlands representing, among others, Charm Sciences and their food safety diagnostic tests and equipment.
But then his wife retired. She missed her home and her family in Thailand, and after many heartfelt conversations, the Van Dams decided to move. That is when Charm Sciences stepped in.
Dr. Stanley Charm, Dirk van Dam, Shirley Charm at the Riverside training facility in Andover, Massachusetts
“Dirk has been such an asset to Charm Sciences over the past 25 years, we couldn’t just let him go,” explained Shirley Charm, Executive Vice President, and co-founder of Charm Sciences, Inc. “He started working with Charm when we only had about 30 employees. His technical knowledge and support over the years have been a contributing factor to our growth and success, but more than that, he’s a great friend. We’re thrilled to have him consult with us.”
Van Dam is now the exclusive Technical Consultant of Southeast Asia for Charm Sciences and will act as a conduit with Charm and its distributors in that region.
“I am excited to bring my expertise to new countries, and look forward to advising the technology transfer of 2015 into this territory,” said Van Dam. “I find the people of Southeast Asia very friendly and youthful in their exuberance. I am thoroughly enjoying absorbing the languages and cultures.”
Focusing on products such as ROSA (Rapid One Step Assay) lateral flow technology for antibiotics and mycotoxin testing in the dairy and food industries, Van Dam’s territory will cover all of Southeast Asia including Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Taiwan. He just returned from high-level training at Charm Sciences headquarters in Lawrence, Massachusetts and their new training facility in Andover, Massachusetts. In all, Charm owns three industrial buildings encompassing 280,000 square feet for offices and manufacturing, a significant expansion since Van Dam’s first visited in 1991.
“Charm currently services the majority of the top 100 global food and beverage companies,” Van Dam stated. “That really says something about Charm’s product quality and reliability. Any food company looking to expand to the global market needs a partner who understands commercialization of different products from around the world, and that is what I can bring to both Charm and its customers.”
To reach out to Dirk van Dam, contact him at:
Email: dirk@charm.com
About Charm Sciences
Established in 1978 in Greater Boston, Charm Sciences helps protect consumers, manufacturers, and global brands from a variety of issues through the development of food safety, water quality, and environmental diagnostics tests and equipment. Selling directly and through its network of distributors, Charm’s products serve the dairy, feed and grain, food and beverage, water, healthcare, environmental, and industrial markets in more than 100 countries around the globe. https://www.charm.com