Sunstar is a global company with Japanese heritage

Michel Pettigrew

Chairman of the Board

Michel became Chair of the Board in 2024. He has over 40 years’ business experience and is a former long-term president and COO of the pharmaceutical business, Ferring Group. He also held senior leadership positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb for over 23 years. Michel’s current non-executive roles include IRRAS Holdings, Agora Care and family-owned Hovione.

Hiroo Kaneda

Board Member

Hiroo was previously President of Sunstar from 1969 before becoming Chairman until 2024. He is the eldest son of Kunio Kaneda, the founder of Sunstar. Hiroo has been instrumental in the company's globalization and growth. He joined Sunstar in 1957 after graduating from Keio University and held a range of senior leadership roles in the Group’s companies before becoming president in 1969.

Tamara Minick-Scokalo

Board Member

Tamara joined the Sunstar Board in 2024. She has worked with leaders of global FMCG companies and high-tech disruptive start-ups for over 40 years. American-born, Tamara’s senior leadership roles include 25 years at Procter & Gamble, as well as Cadbury, Kraft General Foods/Mondalez, Coca-Cola Japan and Elizabeth Arden. Tamara’s board experience includes publicly-listed, family and start-up boards.

Michel Pettigrew

Co-Chair

Michel became Chairman of the Board in 2024. He has over 40 years’ business experience and is a former long-term president and COO of the pharmaceutical business, Ferring Group. He also held senior leadership positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb for over 23 years. Michel’s current non-executive roles include IRRAS Holdings, Agora Care and family-owned Hovione.

Tamara Minick-Scokalo

Co-Chair

Tamara joined the Sunstar Board in 2024. She has worked with leaders of global FMCG companies and high-tech disruptive start-ups for over 40 years. American-born, Tamara’s senior leadership roles include 25 years at Procter & Gamble, as well as Cadbury, Kraft General Foods/Mondalez, Coca-Cola Japan and Elizabeth Arden. Tamara’s board experience includes publicly-listed, family and start-up boards.

Yuji Okamoto

Finance and Technology

Yuji leads the global finance and IT functions. He played an instrumental role in building Sunstar’s international footprint and was involved in establishing both the Industrial business’s headquarters in Singapore, and the Group and Consumer business headquarters in Switzerland.

Yuji has a degree in Commerce from Kwansei Gakuin University.

Kimio Shibata

Consumer, Japan & Asia

Kimio has been leader of Sunstar’s consumer businesses in Japan and Asia since 2023. He previously led corporate planning across the Asia region. Kimio joined Sunstar in 1991 and has held senior roles in Sales, IT and Innovation.

Kimio graduated from Kyoto Prefectural University.

Ken Hong

Consumer, Americas

Ken became leader of Sunstar’s Consumer business in the Americas in 2021 having joined in 2020 as its CFO. He has over 30 years’ experience in senior leadership roles at KPMG, Kraft Heinz, and Reynolds Consumer Products, where he was CFO of its Hefty business.

Ken holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.  He is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Marco Bruscaini

Consumer, Europe

Marco became leader of Sunstar’s Consumer business in Europe in 2020. He joined Sunstar in 2000 as a Marketing Manager, progressing to become General Manager of the Italian subsidiary. He previously held various roles in marketing and category management at Gillette.

Marco complemented his technical education with further studies in Executive Management, Leadership and Marketing at IMD, Bocconi University Milan, and ISTUD.

Masaki Ukai

Industrial

Masaki became head of Sunstar’s Industrial business globally in 2023 having joined Sunstar in 1989, specialising in research and development (R&D). Masaki has held a wide range of roles in R&D and general management in the USA, China, Thailand and Japan.

Masaki graduated from Osaka Institute of Technology with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1989.

Christine Truillet

Consumer, Marketing

Christine joined Sunstar in 2018 and leads our Global Marketing function. Prior to her role at Sunstar, she was a member of the North America leadership of the Crafts business at global manufacturer Coats. Previously, she was a Director at P&G and a Group Business Leader at the Gillette Company. At Sunstar, she leads the global development of our portfolio of brands, including GUM.

Christine holds an MBA from Aston University in Birmingham, UK, and a MBA in International Affairs from the ICN Business School, France.

Wieland Noetzold

Governance, Risk and Compliance

Wieland heads Sunstar’s global Governance, Risk Management and Internal Audit agenda. He joined Sunstar in 2010, having previously held compliance and finance related management positions at Ciba-Geigy, Syngenta and Novartis, in Switzerland and Japan.

Wieland has a Doctorate from Radboud University, Netherlands. He is Vice President of the Swiss-Japanese Chamber of Commerce and of the Japan Club of Geneva.

René Bujard

HR & Corporate Communications

René leads the Human Resources & Corporate Communications function. He joined Sunstar in August 2023 as HR Director for EMEA and the Group HQ in Switzerland. He began his career and spent over two decades at P&G where he worked in both business unit and corporate HR roles in a wide variety of international locations across Asia, Europe and the Americas. René also led the HR function at Oxfam as Global HR Director in a time of transformational change, and increased scientific and operational excellence as HR Director at Galderma.

René holds a Master's degree in Commercial and Industrial Sciences from the University of Geneva.