Starkist president and chief executive officer Sam Hwi Lee will retire on Oct. 31 after exactly two years in the roles.
Replacing him is Andrew Choe, currently senior vice president of supply chain at Starkist, effective Nov. 1.
Choe, who was with Dongwon Enterprises before joining Starkist in 2010, has held the position of senior vice president of supply chain and director of strategic planning and development for Starkist.
“Choe has been recognized for his passion and proven ability to manage and significantly increase Starkist’s performance, further strengthening its position as the category leader,” the company said.
Starkist, a subsidiary of the Korean conglomerate Dongwon Industries, is a producer and distributor of canned tuna in the US, known since 1961 for its Charlie the Tuna brand icon.
“I want to personally thank Mr. Lee for all of his leadership and contributions over the past two years at StarKist,” said Ingu Park, chairman of board of directors for StarKist. “We appreciate Mr. Lee’s commitment to StarKist’s success and wish him the very best in future endeavors.”
Choe joined Starkist in 2010. During his time with the company, he “has been recognized for his passion and proven ability to manage and significantly increase Starkist’s performance, further strengthening its position as the category leader”,said Starkist.
Prior to joining the company, Choe held leadership positions at Dongwon Enterprise and Phillip Morris International.
Choe holds a bachelor of arts degrees in both psychology and economics-international from the University of California. He achieved his masters of business administration with concentrations in finance and operations management from Yale School of Management. Choe resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife.
