In the summer of 1982, four young microbiologists shared the desire to start an analytical laboratory. This laboratory would serve the needs of the Costa Rican market for a laboratory dedicated exclusively to the food and pharmaceutical industries. And so Microtec S.A. was founded as a private company becoming the first laboratory focused on the industry in Costa Rica.

After one and a half years, two of the founders decided to sell their share in the company, leaving the Microtec in the hands of the other two founders: Florencia Antillón Guerrero and José A. Gene Valverde.

During the first years, they both completed their Master’s degrees in Costa Rica and Stockholm, Sweden and have worked collaterally in the academia as food microbiology professors at the Universidad de Costa Rica for over twenty five years. This would become significant in the direction Microtec would take from there.

From the early 1990’s the academic experience and contact with the industry pushed forward the  initiative to provide training courses, consulting, and auditing in sanitation and quality as a Yum! Brands auditor leader for all national suppliers. Strategic alliances emerged throughout this period with Sweden’s Diffchamb AB and 3M’s microbiology division, as well as obtaining a ServSafe instructor certification in Chicago. Moreover, in order to strengthen quality management, training was received in the ISO 17025 standard in Los Angeles, and Microtec was included in AOAC’s Proficiency Testing network. New projects emerged afterwards, such as analyses for companies in the medical device and injectables industry. Additionally, in the last few years Microtec has financed and carried out research projects in the food microbiology sector.

Currently, after twenty nine years of consolidation and experience Microtec conserves its dedication to the industrial sector and its employees are committed  to the ethical values of the company. This commitment means being competitive though excellence in the quality of our service offering and maintaining a permanent contact with emerging technologies to put them at the industry’s service.

José Antonio Gené , MSc.
CEO

Since the early 80’s José Antonio started as part of research team at the University of Costa Rica and was a cofounder of an industry-directed testing laboratory. He was involved in the production of antivenins and other biological products and teaching immunology. After taking all courses for a masters degree in Costa Rica he decided to go to Stockholm and start a Masters program at the Karolinska Institute which he finished in 1992.

He flew back to Costa Rica and continued his job at Microtec where he has been until now as a senior Microbiologist. During that time he became an auditor for Yum! Foods and has been performing Sanitary and Quality audits for more than ten years in different industries and obtained certification as a ServSafe instructor. He also implemented the microbiological control for clean rooms as that need became evident in Costa Rica.

As head of the analyst team at Microtec he has been implementing and performing microbiological testing for foods, pharmaceuticals, disinfectants and medical devices.

Florencia Antillón, MSc.
Chief Scientific Officer

Florencia started her studies in the faculty of Microbiology and graduated in microbiology and clinical chemistry. Nevertheless, after working in the children’s hospital as a student she decided to specialize in microbiology instead of clinical chemistry because microorganisms in all their forms are her passion. So, she cofounded an industry directed testing laboratory (Microtec) and incorporated into the microbiology department at the Universidad de Costa Rica carrying out research and teaching in the food and water microbiology field. She completed an internship at Karolinska Institute to complete her master’s degree thesis comparing isolated Campylobacter from clinical samples to those from food. She graduated in 1994, has taken courses and workshops around the world and has continued her work at Microtec where she has been until now a senior microbiologist.

She’s in charge of implementing and supervising food and water testing methods at Microtec, and of leading research the industry need to develop safe, quality products. Her experience entitles her to give training in the fields of applied microbiology and food safety quality control systems. 

José Roberto Gené, MBA
VP Corporate Development

José studied at the University of Costa Rica obtaining a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science in 2007. He then proceeded to take a position as an analyst in the technology section of the Central Bank of Costa Rica. At the same time, he worked as a consultant and provided business consulting to Microtec. He moved to Toronto in 2009 to pursue his Master’s in Business Administration which he obtained in June 2011.

José Roberto specializes in entrepreneurship and international business, and provides consulting to Canadian companies interested in Costa Rica, and Costa Rican companies aiming for the Canadian Market.

We provide standardized microbiological tests for the food industry using reference methods to examine and evaluate the microbiological quality and safety of its products.  We also provide consulting and training in microbiology, best practices for manufacturing, food safety and HACCP.

The laboratory aims to have a degree of excelence using the most sesible, specific and modern testing methods available to us, paired with access to the most up to date scientific information to guarantee safe, high quality food products.

Our people

The laboratory has administrative and technical personnel with the authority and resources to carry out their tasks, identify deviations and initiate preventive measures when needed. They are prepared to fulfill their functions an identify situations where the quality system might become compromised. This is possible thanks to the training and tools provided to them when working within Microtec. At the same time, this is achieved by:

· Hiring only personnel qualified for the job at hand. This capacity must be proven by the person, by their track record and/or an evaluation by the professionals at Microtec.

The training provided regarding the quality system of the laboratory.

Having clarity in terms of each person’s function and the scope of their work. Likewise, knowledge of each person’s responsibilities and necessary mechanisms to correct any problematic situation.