David Cho

Professional Summary

Expert in quality assurance of fresh produce (fruits and vegetables) with 32 years of experience and knowledge in business administration and horticulture bioscience, especially good at root cause analysis of defects and diseases of fruits and vegetables.
7 years of experiences and knowledge in food safety areas like Global GAP Plus, SQMS (FSSC 22000 Addendum), GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices), SWA (Supplier Workplace Accountability) human right audit program.

Work Experience

Del Monte Fresh Produce Asia-Pacific

Quality Assurance and Food safety Director (2017 to 2025)

Managed quality assurance and food safety for all kinds of fruits and vegetables coming to China, Singapore, Japan and Korea.
Trained all QA and FS staff on quality assurance and food safety of all Del Monte products, especially quality inspection & report of fresh produce and food safety of fresh-cut operations in Asia-Pacific.
Conducted G. GAP Plus Audit on Iceberg Lettuce Farms in Davao, Philippines in 2020, and Fujian, China in 2024, and Hadong/Kwangyang, Korea in 2024, 2025
Participated in G. GAP Plus Audit, SQMS food safety audit, SWA human right audit, GMP audit at Del Monte Eumseong FP every year from 2020 to 2024.

Del Monte Fresh Produce Korea Co. Ltd.

Sr. Manager and Director, Quality Assurance and Technical Services, Masan DC and Port Operations (2000 to 2017

Based in Masan port in Changwon city, Korea. Managed all quality assurance activities in Korea for all Del Monte products. Regularly visited markets and Marts/Superstores in Korea for quality assurance from arrival in port to final consumers and production center (Philippines, USA, Chile) to update the farm operations and discuss quality issues of Del Monte products such as grapes, citrus, mango, banana, pineapple, etc. Sometimes organized and conducted QA meeting with QA staff of the DC of Marts/Superstores to exchange quality information and to train them on the QA of Del Monte products.
Managed port/DC operations conducting vessel birthing, discharging, warehousing, food/plant quarantine, customs clearance, fumigation, delivery to markets and customers. Frequently met with the officials in the quarantine/customs office and the presidents of all contracted companies like stevedore, tally, DC, logistics, harbor labor union, quarantine/customs agents, etc. to facilitate the port/DC operations.

Manager, Marketing (1996- 1999)

Managed marketing activities on Del Monte products like banana and pineapple. Organized and conducted sales promotion activities like in/out store promotion in Dept’/ DC stores in Seoul area and sponsored a variety of sports events in many provinces as sales promotion activities.

Manager, Quality Assurance, (1996- 1999)

Visited two ports (Masan and Incheon) for discharge and transport supervision from port to DC and inspected bananas and pineapples upon arrival in the warehouse to give quality feedback to the production people for all shipments. Regularly visit markets and ripening facility for quality research on fruit quality compared with our competitors’.

QA inspector, Quality Assurance, (1994-1995)

Regularly visited two ports (Masan and Incheon) for discharge and transport supervision from port to warehouse and inspected bananas and pineapples upon arrival in the warehouse to give quality feedback to the production. Visited fresh fruit markets and ripening facility for quality survey irregularly.

Chiquita Korea Co. Ltd.

QA inspector and Coordinator, Quality Assurance, (1993-1994)

Regularly visited Inchoen port for discharge and transport supervision and inspected bananas before/after ripening to give quality feedback to the production in Tadeco, Davao and to the QA VP in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Visited the fresh fruit markets, Dept’ stores and Superstores for quality research and retail audits on a weekly basis.
I worked as a coordinator between markets and production after the general manager resigned the later part of the year 1994.

EDUCATION

Registered Trainer of Global GAP May, 2025
Doctor of Horticulture Bioscience, Busan National University, Korea 2018
Master of Horticulture Bioscience, Busan National University, Korea 2016
Master of Business Administration, Major in business administration, Busan National University, Korea 2007.
Bachelor of Commerce, Major in International Trade, Gyeonggi University, Korea 1992
Post Harvest Technology Course, University of California, Davis, USA June in 2003 and 2014
HACCP Team Leader Training by Agricultural and Food Safety Management Agency in 2018
Global GAP On-line Training in Cornel University 2018, at Ecolab Training Center in the Philippines in 2018, the Korea Association of Global. GAP in 2019 and 2022,
FSSC 22000 Food Safety Training by SGS in Korea in 2021
Better Process Control School for the Thermal Processed Products by FDA at Purdue University in 2021
SQMS (McDonald’s Supplier Quality Management System) by Global McDonald’s in 2019
Banana Forum by Del Monte Guatemala in Bananera, Izabel, Guatemala in 2018