Behind Every Tick: The Hill Labs Inspection & Certification Team
Pictured: Part of the Inspection & Certification team at the Christchurch office
Inspection and certification of food, dairy and honey producers play a critical role in maintaining safety, compliance, and trust. Behind this important work is the Hill Labs Inspection & Certification team, a group whose expertise and consistency help deliver safer food, stronger systems, and better outcomes for organisations and businesses across New Zealand.
As a food safety and environmental health service provider, the team operates at the intersection of regulation, people, and practical improvement. They support clients to meet today’s requirements while building capability for the future.
The team includes around 40 people across New Zealand, made up of Food, Dairy and Honey Auditors, Environmental Health Officers (EHOs), and Alcohol Inspectors. Together, they support a growing portfolio of customers across the country, ranging from single operators to large, multi‑site organisations.
A Team Built on Expertise
Credibility and integrity underpin the services delivered. Verifiers hold a relevant bachelor’s degree often matched with significant time in industry. Continual investment in people ensures the team is well equipped to navigate complex regulatory environments and support customers with clarity, consistency, and confidence.
While inspection and certification are grounded in regulation, Inspection & Certification CEO Sam Brooks sees the team’s role as extending beyond compliance alone.
“We take great pride in supporting our customers to thrive. Our role is to enable our customers to keep food systems compliant, open pathways to new domestic or global markets, and protect local communities from food safety and public health harm.” Sam says.
Audit findings are framed as opportunities to mature quality systems. When insights are shared clearly, customers can use them to target causes of food defects, improving the overall quality of their food products. Sam explains. It’s this combination of qualifications, training, and experience that enables the team to provide advice that is practical, proportionate, and genuinely useful.
Values Driven: Partnership, Support, and Trust
Values play a central role in how the team works, both internally and with customers. Their focus on collaboration supports a partnership approach that becomes especially valuable during periods of high demand.
Sam notes inspection and certification work, like laboratory testing, is time‑critical. Customers rely on clear turnaround times and prompt responses when issues arise with responsiveness are embedded in how the team operates, he says. From timely audit reporting to rapid support when unexpected challenges emerge, this reliability enables customers to operate with confidence, even under pressure.
Strong relationships are also central to how the work is delivered, with a clear emphasis on communication and trust. This is particularly important when challenging information needs to be conveyed, requiring empathy, clarity, and professionalism.
“Rapport and soft skills come first. It’s about delivering difficult messages in the right way. Trust is built through reliable performance and the relationships we develop with our customers,” Sam explains.
Accountability That Builds Confidence
For the Hill Labs Inspection & Certification team, accountability goes beyond process. It shows up in how the team works with customers and each other. Clear communication, consistent judgement, and professional integrity underpin every engagement.
By combining technical expertise with a partnership mindset, the team helps customers navigate regulatory requirements with confidence to reinforce trust through dependable delivery rather than formality alone.
