Our Leadership Team
As a subsidiary of CJ Foods, we are focused on recruiting and developing exceptional talent and leaders, who can help the company achieve its vision of being a global lifestyle company inspiring a new life of health, happiness and convenience.
MAINTAINING a Strong Governance Program
CJ Schwan's is committed to sound corporate governance practices. Our “Business Ethics Code of Conduct” is based on our core values of growth, hard work, helping one another, enthusiasm and integrity. Our code guides all of us, from our board of directors to new employees, to conduct ourselves in a manner that reflects the highest level of ethical business conduct.
Gregory Yep
Chairman of the Board, CJ Schwan’s
Interim CEO, CJ Schwan’s
Dr. Gregory Yep serves as global CEO of CJ Foods, the global food business of CJ Group, where he leads operations across North America, Korea, APAC, China, Japan, and Europe. He also serves as chairman of the board and interim CEO of CJ Schwan’s, headquartered in Minnesota.
A globally recognized leader in food science, innovation and the future of food, he brings more than three decades of experience transforming the consumer goods, nutrition and biotechnology industries. Since being named global CEO of CJ Foods in 2025 and interim CEO of CJ Schwan’s in 2026, he has been driving a bold agenda to accelerate global growth, expand breakthrough innovation platforms and bring Korean, Asian and Western cuisine to consumers around the world. Under his leadership, CJ Foods is advancing its mission to reshape the global food landscape through next-generation food technologies, expanded global partnerships and scalable innovation platforms that unlock new opportunities across markets and categories.
Dr. Yep joined CJ Foods in 2023 as executive vice president and chief technical officer, where he architected the company’s global R&D strategy and launched transformative innovation platforms designed to accelerate product development and global market expansion. Prior to CJ Foods, he served as chief science officer at IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances) and senior vice president of R&D at PepsiCo, where he also led the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. Throughout his career, he has pioneered advancements in food science, nutrition and ingredient innovation, shaping products enjoyed by millions of consumers worldwide.
He is a recipient of the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association Excellence in Flavor Science Award and has served on the boards of J.M. Huber and Will Ventures, as well as advisory committees for Cornell University and national committees of the United States Tennis Association focused on Sports Science and Diversity & Inclusion.
Federico Arreola
Fed leads our fast-growing Asian Cuisine business. His team capitalizes on the rising interest in flavor-forward, nutritious and accessible Asian cuisine.
Fed joined our company in 2021 as vice president of marketing for our consumer brands business and expanded his role in 2024 to also manage our North America international markets (Canada, Mexico and Caribbean). Previously, he was the chief brand and category officer for Kraft Heinz in Canada, where he led a team that delivered double-digit topline growth and gained market share in 75% of competing categories. He also headed the grocery unit in Canada, led the sauces and frozen foods business unit in the U.S., and was vice president for Heinz consumer products in the U.S. Fed also has worked for Eli Lilly and Frito Lay.
Education
- The Tecnológico de Monterrey — bachelor’s degree, industrial engineering and systems
- Duke University — master’s degree, business administration
Tyler Bolinger
Tyler continues to evolve our established brands, maintaining our top market share in pizza and expanding our desserts innovations. His team anticipates and meets emerging trends to delight consumers with the flavors and convenience they want every day and for every occasion.
He draws on experience building consumer attention and loyalty, including revenue growth management and consumer growth roles since he joined our company in 2022. His previous work included 11 years with Kellogg Co. as well as roles with Southern Wine & Spirits and Hostess Brands.
Education
- Oakland University — bachelor’s degree, communications and public relations
- Colorado State — master’s degree, business administration
Robert Dircks
Robert heads the team that brings together our global flavors and business expertise to meet the needs of foodservice providers across an array of venues. Our broad portfolio of products makes it easy for our customers to serve the menu items their guests want in pizza and Asian foods. And, our team members offer the support operators need to make our solutions work in any back-of-house environment.
Robert has been part of our Foodservice team since 2014, leading teams in connecting innovation, strategy and consumer trends with a deep knowledge of our customers’ needs and operations. He joined the company after 16 years with General Mills in marketing and sales.
Education
- Washington University in St. Louis – bachelor’s degree, marketing
- University of Minnesota — master’s degree, business administration
Doug Herrington
Doug’s team specializes in making it easy for our retail customers to sell our full array of flavors and convenience. As a single-contact sales team for all our Asian Cuisine and Pizza & Specialty Foods lines, the team is accelerating sales to existing retail store customers and putting our products on the shelves in new markets.
Doug joined our company in 2025 with more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in sales. He spent more than 20 years with The Coca-Cola Company in roles spanning national account sales, revenue growth management, sales operations and foodservice sales. He strengthened customer relationships, led pricing and trade strategies, and led teams across business units to drive growth and profitability.
Education
- Southern Illinois University – bachelor’s degree, political science
- Executive leadership programs — Harvard Business School, Coca-Cola
Jacob Berning
Jacob Berning was promoted in 2018 to the position of president of CJ Schwan’s Foodservice, a business unit that develops and sells foods to schools, universities, health-care facilities, convenience stores, chain restaurants and other venues.
He first joined the company in 2014 as vice president of marketing for our Foodservice Division.
Prior to joining Schwan’s, Jacob held marketing and leadership roles with General Mills and WhiteWave Foods, gaining experience with more than 25 product categories manufactured in multiple temperature states. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in business administration from the New York University Stern School of Business.
John Davidson
In 2024, John Davidson was promoted to serve as president of CJ Schwan’s Consumer Brands Division. The business unit markets and sells delicious foods from iconic brands such as Red Baron®, Freschetta® and Tony’s® pizza, Edwards® and Mrs. Smith’s® desserts, and Pagoda® and bibigo™ Asian-style foods.
John first joined our team in 2021 as finance vice president for Consumer Brands, where he’s made significant contributions to enable growth of the business. He also provided leadership to our revenue growth management and trade strategy teams. Earlier, John worked for more than 17 years at Kellogg Company. While there, his career spanned six different functions, six different states and three different countries. His tenure included several senior leadership roles, including chief commercial officer for Kellogg’s salty snacks business; CFO of the company’s Mediterranean, Middle East & North Africa regions; and revenue growth management leader for Kellogg Europe. He was also a vice president of sales for Kellogg’s Target team.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toledo and an MBA from The Ohio State University. He serves on the Alumni Board of Directors for the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State.
Won Kang
Won leads enterprise strategy and business transformation for our U.S. operations, helping to shape our long-term growth agenda and bring it to life across the business. He focuses on both organic expansion and strategic investments, ensuring they are executed in ways that strengthen performance across markets, channels and categories.
He works closely with our executive leadership team and partners at global headquarters to turn market insights and investment opportunities into clear enterprise priorities. Won also drives collaboration across CJ’s U.S. businesses, developing business cases for new growth opportunities, and oversees high-impact initiatives, including capital investments, and mergers and acquisitions.
Since joining CJ CheilJedang in 2017, Won has held leadership roles spanning M&A, post-merger integration, global strategic products, strategy and ethnic sales at CJ Schwan’s. Earlier in his career, he held leadership positions in R&D, innovation and business development at Kraft Foods, Mondelēz International, and Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), part of JAB Holding Company.
Soohee Lee
In 2019, Soohee Lee was named chief financial officer for CJ Schwan's. He is responsible for leading the company's finance functions, including accounting, tax, treasury, financial planning and analysis, and purchasing teams.
Soohee has been a member of the CJ Group's family of businesses since 2002, gaining extensive leadership experience in many areas, including accounting, tax, treasury, investor relations, strategic planning, and mergers and acquisitions. In one of his more recent posts, he led the finance, legal and compliance teams for CJ America in Los Angeles, where he served as chief financial officer.
Soohee earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Stacey Fowler Meittunen
Stacey’s teams ensure that we continuously delight our customers with innovative global foods and flavors. Her leadership is centered on translating consumer insights, emerging food trends and technical expertise into scalable business opportunities that create long term value. Her teams work across the enterprise leading research, product development, culinary excellence, process and packaging engineering, technology development, regulatory affairs and specification management, and commercialization supporting our retail, foodservice and strategic customer branded business.
With more than 25 years of experience in the food industry, Stacey began her career at Schwan’s as a food technologist supporting frozen desserts and gained roles of increasing importance within R&D, foodservice and consumer brands. Prior to her current role, she held executive leadership positions spanning research and development, marketing, consumer insights, food safety and quality, and general management. She also spent time at Bellisio Foods, where she led foodservice, research and development, and quality assurance teams.
Education
• University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management — master’s degree, business administration
• North Dakota State University — bachelor’s degree, food science
Kathy Persian
Kathy heads the teams who ensure we have and use the right technology to serve customers, grow our business and operate efficiently. They are integrating artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and innovative computing models into our digital foundation to accelerate innovation and support our growth.
Kathy joined the company in 2016, with prior experience leading business transformation and information technology for Sports Authority. She also worked in finance and information technology roles with Supervalu and held leadership positions with Best Buy.
Education
• College of Saint Benedict — bachelor's degree, business management
Michael Pulcanio
In May 2024, Michael Pulcanio was promoted to executive vice president and chief human resources officer. He leads the company’s human resources function.
He first joined the company in 2021 as senior vice president of human resources, with a focus on leading and developing HR and human capital strategies for several business units and key departments within the company.
Earlier, Michael served as senior vice president of HR for Tyson Foods. He also gained senior HR leadership experience with Hillshire Brands, Aon and Pepsi.
Michael received a bachelor's degree in business from Northern Illinois University and a law degree from John Marshall Law School. Prior to pursuing a career in HR, he served as a labor attorney.
Roberto Rios
Roberto Rios joined our company in 2019 as chief marketing officer. He is responsible for leading our marketing strategy.
Roberto has more than 25 years of marketing experience in the consumer goods industry. Prior to joining our team, he served as global chief marketing officer for beverages at PepsiCo's world headquarters, where he was responsible for leading global brands such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, 7UP, Mirinda, Aquafina and LifeWater. Earlier, he held marketing, general management and leadership positions with several PepsiCo divisions and subsidiaries, including the Frito-Lay snacks division and in countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico.
He received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from National University of Mexico. After college, he started his career in research and development with Procter & Gamble, Mexico.
Scott Xi
Scott guides us in protecting our customers, products, operations and business continuity. The legal, insurance & claims, government affairs, corporate aviation, records-keeping & compliance teams he leads ensure that we meet safety, quality and regulatory standards and manage risks. They facilitate our growth by protecting our intellectual property and managing partnerships with suppliers, vendors, customers and business collaborators.
He joined CJ Schwan’s in 2012. Previously, he worked as a senior lawyer for Cargill and a senior associate at Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly.
Education
• Mitchell Hamline School of Law — juris doctorate
• Institute of International Politics, Bejing, China — bachelor’s degree, English
Chang Kim
Chang directs our financial operations to ensure we have the financial data and insights we need to grow our business, operate sustainably, meet our obligations and make informed decisions about our strategy. The teams he leads include accounting, tax, financial planning and analysis, and purchasing.
Chang joined the CJ Group in 2015 and has held roles in financial planning and analysis, accounting, tax, treasury, strategic planning, and mergers and acquisitions. Most recently, he was CFO of CJ Batavia Biosciences B.V.
Education
• Indiana University Bloomington — bachelor’s degree, public finance
Dave Furlong
Dave’s leadership enables us to continue innovating and delivering global cuisine with excellence at every point in our global supply chain. The teams he leads span our logistics and manufacturing operations.
Dave joined CJ Schwan’s in 2024. He previously served as chief supply chain officer for Brew Dr. Kombucha in Portland, Oregon, and in a variety of supply chain leadership roles for General Mills Inc.
Education
• University of Minnesota — master’s degree, supply chain management
• The Ohio State University — bachelor’s degree, business administration, and transportation and logistics
Kari Ziemer
Kari leads human resources operations, ensuring that we attract, engage, retain and reward people with best talents and competencies to meet our business needs and support our growth ambitions. She is also responsible for our corporate affairs organization.
Kari joined the company in 2011 and has since built a broad range of HR leadership experiences during her tenure. Her past roles have included leading HR for multiple business units and functions as well as serving as chief talent officer. Previously, she worked in human resource leadership roles for UnitedHealth Group and RBC Wealth Management.