Roger K. Deromedi
Chairman
Pinnacle Foods Corporation
Roger Deromedi is chairman of Pinnacle Foods Corporation, a $2 billion revenue food
company, which is owned by the Blackstone Group, a private equity firm. Pinnacles’ key
brands include Duncan Hines cake mixes, Vlasic pickles, Armour meats, Lenders bagels,
and Mrs. Buttersworth and Log Cabin syrups. He also provides advisory services to other
private equity firms regarding the food and beverage industry.
Mr. Deromedi has 30 years of experience in the global food industry. He was previously
the CEO of Kraft Foods Inc., the world’s second-largest food and beverage company, from
December 2003 to June 2006. During his career at Kraft, he held a number of leadership
positions in senior management, including co-CEO of Kraft Foods, president and CEO of
Kraft Foods International, president of the company’s Asia Pacific business, and president
of Kraft’s Western Europe business, based in Zurich. He also served as area director of the
company’s business in France, Iberia, and Benelux, based in Paris. Previously, he led Kraft’s
cheese and specialty products businesses in the United States and served in a corporate
development role. He began his career with General Foods in 1977, where he held various
marketing positions in the company’s beverages and coffee businesses.
He earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1977 and earned
a BA in economics and mathematics from Vanderbilt University in 1975.
Mr. Deromedi is on the board of directors of the Rainforest Alliance and on the boards
of trustees of Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History and the Joffrey Ballet. He
is a member of the Chicago Commercial Club, the visiting committee of the University
of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and the transportation and marketing advisory
councils of Chicago 2016, the city’s organizing bid committee for the 2016 Olympics.
He is also a guest lecturer at various universities.
Mr. Deromedi and his wife, Sandra, have three children and reside in Lake Forest, Illinois.