Chobani Names Tom Cullen New CIO
Consumer goods company Chobani is bolstering its executive leadership team and has tapped Tom Cullen as its new chief information officer.
In the new role — reporting to Chobani CEO and president, Kevin Burns — Cullen will channel his 25 years of retail and CPG tech experience into implementing new IT innovations while streamlining existing processes and creating a more efficient IT infrastructure for the brand.
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Cullen is stepping into the role after the departure of former Chobani CIO, Parag Agrawal, who left this month to join Fanatics Holdings.
Prior to joining Chobani, Cullen held the position of CIO at Corsair, a global manufacturer of gaming and streaming gear, and played a key role in spearheading the company's digital technology transformation strategy and journey. Before this, he served as CIO at Juul Labs, Driscoll's, and Peet's Coffee & Tea.
Commenting on the news, Burns said Cullen’s expertise and experience would be invaluable as Chobani continues to strive towards its goal of becoming a next-generation food and beverage company.
Cullen also expressed excitement about joining the “mission-driven” company, adding that he would aim to work with the team to “build a function that aligns, connects and powers our people first, to ensure we are positioned for continued industry disruption and driving the business forward.”
The company has made a number of key leadership appointments in the last year, recently bringing on former Peloton and PepsiCo executives to take up roles as chief people and chief legal officer. In September 2022, the company also named Tarkan Gürkan its CFO, while appointing Kenneth Bishop to the new role of senior vice president international market development.
Chobani's Purpose-Driven Evolution
Headquartered in New Berlin, NY, the company was founded by Hamdi Ulukaya in 2007 and initially operated out of an old Kraft manufacturing plant in Johnstown, NY. Since then, Chobani has grown to become one of the world's best-selling yogurt brands, holding over 20% of the U.S. market share.
In 2017, the company underwent a major brand revamp, evolving its visual identity and packaging design to mark the 10th anniversary of its move to national distribution in 2008.
The brand is also not one to shy away from experimentation when it comes to technology. In just one recent example, Chobani launched into the virtual reality space with a group racing and discoverability experience as part of promotional efforts for its oat milk product category.
In keeping with the brand's purpose-driven corporate mission, racers competing in the online game gained points which were displayed in a charity chart and, once the target goal was reached, Chobani donated $75,000 to Hunger Free America.
