26 April 2013
United States
StarKist Co., which has been through several leadership changes in recent years, has decided to give the top job at the Pittsburgh-based tuna business to the man who has been running the company on an interim basis since November.
Sam Hwi Lee has been named president and CEO of the subsidiary of South Korean company Dongwon Industries. The appointment was approved during a board meeting last week, according to an announcement today from the company.
Mr. Lee, a Dongwon board member when he was tapped to fill the interim role, had been a former president of Nestle Korea. His more than 30 years expertise in the consumer packaged goods food industry also includes time with Dole Food Co. and Nestle USA, according to the company.
“StarKist is one of the most recognized brands in America, and we are a leader in the seafood industry. I look forward to working closely with our dedicated team of associates in the United States, as well as in other parts of the world including American Samoa and Ecuador,†said Mr. Lee, in a prepared statement.
The company said he will continue to work from StarKist’s headquarters on the North Shore.
Mr. Lee replaced In-Soo Cho, who had run the business starting in March 2011.
Dongwon bought StarKist in 2008 from San Francisco-based Del Monte Foods, which had acquired it a few years earlier from Pittsburgh’s H.J. Heinz Co.
