WELL.
INTO THE FUTURE.

Founder of five different companies including Sweegen, Inc., Steven Chen is an entrepreneur and businessperson who has been in the biotechnology sector for over 25 years. Steven has continuously owned and operated the companies he has founded by serving in various roles including President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Financial Officer. Currently, Steven holds the position of CEO at Sweegen.

Casey is a disruptive innovator who has specialized in helping companies adapt their core technology assets to develop new products with meaningful points of difference to consumers. Over 25+ years as a Food Science professional, he has developed a wide variety of foods and beverages across the CPG and Foodservice landscapes. An advocate for lower sugar and more nutritious products, his prior experience includes work at leading multinational companies to launch transformative innovation products that drove a positive impact to public health. Casey has a BS and MBA from the University of Connecticut.

Sally leads Sweegen’s marketing strategy and execution globally. She is a passionate promoter of food ingredients and her commitment to helping food and beverage customers make products that are better for consumers is the foundation of her 18+ years in food ingredient marketing. Prior to joining Sweegen in 2019, Sally worked across a range of branded new-to-the-world ingredients from high intensity sweeteners like stevia to algae proteins and oils to a range of nutraceutical ingredients. She has deep expertise in working with large multinational food ingredient companies like Cargill and their biggest customers, and is equally at home with small, fast-moving start-ups. Guided by a core belief that food innovation can improve health and wellness, Sally is excellent in translating ingredient benefits into compelling concepts and messages that ultimately deliver functional, better-for-you food and beverages. Sally received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from University of Virginia.

Luca leads the company’s global sales activities. Luca is an accomplished commercial and business development executive with 20 years of experience in building, developing, and managing businesses and teams of different sizes from start up through maturity. His background combines expertise in global sales, marketing operations, finance and manufacturing, with leadership experience spanning multiple international markets. Luca is an experienced strategist and innovator with a demonstrated ability to create value, forge strategic partnerships and interact efficiently with C-Level Officers. He received a Master’s Degree (Honor’s) in Geology-Crystallography from the ETH in Zurich (Switzerland) and speaks English, German and Italian fluently.

Hadi leads Sweegen’s global regulatory affairs. With over 15 years of experience working closely with all major food regulators such US FDA, EFSA, FSANZ, and CODEX, he brings a depth of knowledge and skills regarding regulatory approvals of novel ingredients. Hadi has successfully achieved FDA GRAS and FEMA GRAS status for over 25 molecules in his career, including multiple regulatory “firsts” for approvals of new production technologies for stevia and novel ingredients like brazzein. He received his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from University of Kashan.

John practiced corporate law and dispute resolution for 28 years with major international law firms including Jones Day, Greenberg Traurig, Reed Smith and Dentons. He received his bachelor’s from Peking University, master’s from University of Hawaii and UCLA, and Juris Doctorate from UC Berkeley.