Schwan’s, which makes popular food brands such as Red Baron pizza and Mrs. Smith’s pies, has promoted Brian Schiegg into the company’s CEO position. Schiegg takes over from Dimitrios Smyrnios, who recently announced his retirement after more than a decade of leadership.
“Brian has the full support and confidence of the company’s board of directors and CJ Foods’ leadership to maintain Schwan’s momentum and propel our company to even greater heights in the future,” says Minsok Pak, chairman of Schwan’s board of directors and CEO of Schwan’s parent company, CJ Foods. “The North American market is critical to our growth strategy, and I personally look forward to working with Brian to achieve our vision of becoming the No. 1 provider of ethnic cuisine in the United States.”
Schiegg joined Schwan’s in January 2021 as president of the Consumer Brands business, where he’s had several different brands of pizza, desserts, and Asian-style foods under his leadership. During his time with the division, it has achieved outstanding growth, with bibigo Asian-style foods and Red Baron pizza leading in market share for their respective categories. He now becomes the seventh CEO in Schwan’s 72-year history.
He has more than two decades of leadership experience in the CPG industry, previously serving as COO of Ocean Spray Cranberries, where he led all U.S. sales, global business units, marketing, planning, manufacturing, global ingredients, and supply chain operations. He also working in various leadership roles for Mars divisions and subsidiaries, gaining a broad range of experience in general management, business transformation, supply chain leadership, procurement, manufacturing, product development, and brand building.
Schiegg has a bachelor’s degree in economics and English from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., and an MBA from the University of Southern California.
“I am honored to be chosen as our new CEO,” Schiegg says. “Schwan’s is an extremely strong company with an amazing heritage, and we have built an extraordinary team of very talented people. Together, we will work to build upon our position as a leader in the North American market and continue to pursue our plans for long-term growth.”
