Sargento Announces Leadership Appointments Across Food Safety and Quality, Manufacturing, Innovation and Strategic Sourcing

Sargento, the family-owned leader in natural cheese and snacking innovation, is building on its recognition by Fast Company as one of the ‘World’s Most Innovative Companies’ with continued investments in the leadership, capabilities and operational excellence that support long-term growth. These actions include leadership appointments across Food Safety & Quality, Manufacturing and Strategic Sourcing, as well as a planned transition in the company’s Innovation organization.

“At Sargento, our success has always been built on high quality, real food innovation, and a commitment to our stakeholders,” said Louie Gentine, third-generation Chairman and CEO of Sargento. “As we position our leadership team to guide us into the future, we are strengthening the values that have driven us for generations. I am confident they will lead Sargento with integrity and a commitment to the principles my grandfather, Leonard Gentine, instilled in our company from the very beginning.”

Innovation Leadership

Rod Hogan

Rod Hogan, Senior Vice President of Innovation, has announced his intent to retire in January 2027. After years of shaping Sargento’s culture, launching some of the company’s most successful products and inspiring the next generation of leaders, Rod was honored with the Founder’s Ring, the company’s highest recognition. His career has been marked by creativity, kindness, and a commitment to developing others. Sargento is grateful for Rod’s leadership and his profound impact on our vision to be the most innovative, best-loved real food company.

Holly Baumgart

Holly Baumgart will succeed Rod as Senior Vice President of Innovation. Holly currently serves as Vice President of New Platform Development at Sargento. Over her tenure, Holly has held multiple successful leadership roles across Information Technology, Strategic Planning, and New Products. Her deep understanding of Sargento’s business, positions her well to lead the next phase of the company's innovation strategy and execution which has added $1 billion of category growth in the past 5 years. Holly assumes her new responsibilities immediately, while Rod will focus on knowledge transfer and expertise sharing until his retirement in January 2027.

Food Safety, Quality, and Manufacturing

Tim Finnerty

As Vice President of Food Safety and Quality, Tim Finnerty will direct Sargento’s food safety and quality assurance strategy, leading the teams and standards that ensure the brand consistently delivers high-quality natural cheese products and ingredients. Tim brings more than 12 years of food industry leadership experience building world-class safety cultures and scalable quality systems. He previously served as Vice President of Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory Affairs at DO & CO across North America. He also held executive quality roles at

HelloFresh, where his team earned the prestigious Black Pearl Award from the International Association for Food Protection for corporate excellence.

Steve Cahoon

Steve Cahoon has accepted the role of Vice President of Strategic Sourcing after 15 years with Sargento. In this position, Steve will lead operational continuity and maintain strong supply chain performance. He previously served as Vice President of Manufacturing, where he delivered strong operational success and meaningful cost savings while implementing the company’s manufacturing strategy of Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, People (SQCDP) to align manufacturing teams with Sargento’s corporate strategies. In his new capacity, Steve will leverage his deep operational background to drive strategic procurement and supply chain excellence.

Jack Lindsay

Sargento welcomes Jack Lindsay who will lead operations across Sargento’s manufacturing network as the new Vice President of Manufacturing, succeeding Steve Cahoon in the role to shape operational policies, plan plant capacity, drive efficiency, and maintain high safety standards. Jack brings more than 14 years of CPG operations leadership experience, with deep expertise in plant management, manufacturing strategy, and continuous improvement programs. Before joining Sargento, he served as Vice President, Operations Business Lead at Danone North America, overseeing operational performance, capital projects, and category growth strategy.

“We’re all excited about these leadership changes as they set the Sargento Family up well for accelerated growth and Operational excellence,” said Michael Pellegrino, Chief Operating Officer of Sargento. “Our COO leadership team will continue to work together to grow our capabilities and ensure Sargento continues to set the standard for quality and innovation in the CPG industry. We look forward to adding their knowledge and expertise as we write the next chapter of Sargento.”

About Sargento

With over 2,500 employees and $1.7 billion in net sales, Sargento is a family-owned company that has been a leader in cheese for more than 70 years. Founded in 1953 in Plymouth, Wisconsin, Sargento is proud to be the company that successfully introduced America to pre-packaged sliced and shredded natural cheeses and cheese blends. Today, Sargento is still based in Wisconsin, where they manufacture and market amazing shredded, sliced and snack natural cheese products, as well as ingredients. Company leadership lives to serve local communities and employees, whom they refer to as the Sargento Family. www.sargento.com