Barak Bar-Cohen has over 25 years of experience building and scaling businesses in the telecommunication, digital media and beverage industries both in the U.S. and abroad.

Barak is the former Chief Operating Officer of Bai Brands, a healthy antioxidant infused beverage company based in Princeton, NJ which was acquired by Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (now KDP) for $1.7 billion. At Bai, Barak was responsible for all operational functions including production, quality control, regulatory, customer care, procurement, warehousing, demand planning, variety pack production, e-commerce fulfillment and inventory management.

While at Bai, he built one of the largest variety packing operations in the enhanced water industry, developing and implementing automated robotic solutions that supported exponential growth in the club, grocery and online channels. These automated lines supported production levels of millions of cases per month and are still in use to this day.

Prior to this role, Barak held several executive leadership roles at Piksel, a global provider of IPTV enterprise software solutions responsible for over 750 employees across 20 offices worldwide. Barak served as an investor and President and Chief Operating Officer for Narrowstep, a TV over the internet software platform company based in London which was acquired by Piksel in 2010.

From 2000 through 2005, Barak served in several Senior Management roles at RCN Corporation, a leading provider of bundled communication services to residential customers across the United States which was later sold to private equity group Abry Partners for over $1.2 billion.

Barak received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with Honors from Brandeis University and earned an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Steve Rubin is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience in logistics, freight transportation, and process engineering and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of several companies in the container shipping and intermodal space.

In his most recent role, Steve served as CEO and President of ITS ConGlobal, North America’s largest intermodal terminal services support company, which he sold on behalf of the Carlyle Group to AMP Capital for over $500 million in 2017.

Prior to that role, Steve was the CEO and President of Horizon Lines, the largest U.S.-based container shipping company serving domestic trade lanes, which he sold for $607 million to Matson Lines (NYSE: MATX) and Pasha Group.

He has served as an Adjunct Professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Martin Tuchman School of Management and led a collaborative effort with NJIT to develop mobile medical care units made from repurposed shipping containers to support local hospital’s and universities’ responses to COVID-19.

Steve started his career with the accounting firm KPMG, where he earned his CPA license.

He graduated from The University of Pennsylvania and The Wharton School of Business with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Economics degree and earned an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Josh Schwartz-Dodek is a skilled robotics and mechanical engineer working in the industrial automation and robotics industries with a focus in the Automotive and Food & Beverage industries.

Prior to this role, Josh worked as a Manufacturing and Controls Development Engineer at Tesla where he was a member of the Tesla robotics team for Core Automation Engineering, focusing on the startup of new production lines and the development of robotics tools and standards for Tesla operations worldwide. At Tesla, Josh specialized in application development and optimization for machine vision, clinching, grinding, spotweld, self-piercing rivet, dispense, and handling and was a contributing member of both the Tesla Robot Standards Committee and Tesla Robot Vision Standards Committee. Josh and his team supported the commissioning and startup for both the Tesla Model Y and Model Y Legacy launches and upgrades.

Prior to this role, Josh was a Senior Robotics Engineer at HCM Systems from 2017 to 2021 where he specializes in mechanical design, creating custom CAD solutions and assemblies, and implementing designs for manufacturing groups. Josh also specializes in programming of FANUC robots and robotic simulations as well as hands on system startup, troubleshooting and testing.

Josh holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Ken Dee has over 25 years of experience in the assembly and supply chain management of primary and secondary packaging in the consumer packaged goods industry.

In his most recent role, Ken was the Chief Operating Officer of Red Thread Coffee Company, a nationally distributed cold brew coffee brand based out of New York. From 2015 to 2018, he was the Director of Cost Management responsible for all cost of good sold items as well as the company’s automated packaging initiative. Bai Brands was sold to Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (Now KDP) in 2017 for $1.7 billion.

While at Bai, he designed and validated one of the largest variety packing operations in the enhanced water industry, implementing an automated robotic solution that supported production levels of millions of cases per month and are still in use to this day.

Prior to this role from 2013 to 2015, Ken was a senior National Account Manager for Pratt Industries, the largest privately held manufacturer of recycled corrugated paper and packaging company in the world. At Pratt Industries, he managed business in 12 manufacturing facilities across the country and was awarded the prestigious Pinnacle Club Award given to the top performers across the company.

From 1996 to 2013, Ken held senior account management roles at Packaging Corporation of America and Temple Inland, two of the top vertically integrated paper and packaging companies in the United States.

Ken holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University.

Julie Perryman has 7 years of experience managing supply chain functions within the beverage industry, including planning, co-packer and variety pack production, quality assurance, logistics, regulatory, procurement and inventory control.

Most recently, Julie worked for Keurig Dr. Pepper (KDP), overseeing variety pack planning and production within the emerging brands category where she was responsible for the production of over 70 variety pack SKUs and a total volume of over 13 million packs per year.

Prior to this, Julie was responsible for raw material and production planning at four co-packing sites for Bai Brands, which was acquired by KDP (formerly Dr. Pepper Snapple Group) for $1.7 billion in 2017.

From 2014 to 2016, Julie worked for the New Jersey Division of Taxation, handling all individual, corporate, partnership and sales tax projects. Julie graduated from La Salle University with a Bachelor of Arts in English.

Ryan Homeny has over 10 years experience in warehousing, logistics, manufacturing, transportation, and supply chain operations of beverage manufacturing and distribution facilities.

In his most recent role, Ryan managed Purchasing and Procurement for Allen Flavors Inc., an innovative specialty flavor house based in South Plainfield, NJ. Since joining the Allen Flavors team, he provided over millions of dollars in raw material savings and is responsible for the ethical sourcing and qualification of new raw materials suppliers to meet customer production sales goals.

Prior to this role, Ryan was the Warehouse Operations Manager at Bai Brands where he managed the daily execution of receiving, storing and shipping millions of cases per month. From 2015 to 2018, he assisted in the growth of the supply chain operation for Bai’s distribution center as well as multiple satellite warehouses by managing a safe and efficient operations and logistics staff in support of Bai’s exponential growth and ultimate sale to Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (Now KDP) for $1.7 billion.

From 2012 to 2015, Ryan managed all production planning of the Aseptic Production Line at Sunny Delight Beverage Company based in Dayton, NJ for some of the top beverage brands in the world. While at Sunny Delight, Ryan was responsible for controlling inbound and outbound logistics for all co-packing operations as well as all internal inventory management. Ryan is experienced in a Lean culture with multiple Kaizen events and began his career in manufacturing as a qualified blending technician for Sunny Delight and other co-pack customers.

Ryan attended Coastal Carolina University for Professional Golf Management before transitioning into the beverage supply chain operations field.

Chris Wareham is a seasoned executive with over 35 years experience in international shipping and logistics in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

In his most recent role, Chris served as Chief Financial Officer, based in Sydney, Australia, of both the investment holding, and the operating companies of Kawasaki Limited, a major international shipping line where he was a key player in evaluating and undertaking the strategic acquisition of landside logistics companies to complement the core shipping business. Prior to this role, Chris worked for US-based “K” Line America.

Chris earned a Bachelor of Business Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand. He was also admitted to the New Zealand Society of Accountants as an Associate Chartered Accountant, and earned his MBA, with a specialization in international marketing, from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Geraldine Dunkley has over 10 years experience recruiting, managing and building human resource teams in the beverage, logistics, and consumer packaged goods industries.

Prior to her current role at Sojo Industries, Geraldine was Human Resources Director at Clio LLC, a healthy yogurt-based snack food company, where she helped build the human resource function and supported the company’s growth from 30 to 100 full-time employees over 3 years. In this role, Geraldine also established a training program with an emphasis on culture, diversity and leadership along with outreach to the local community via employee engagement programs.

From 2017 to 2020, Geraldine was Head of Human Resources at Port Jersey Logistics, a top tier third party warehousing and trucking provider, managing human resources functions and labor negotiations across six US-locations.

Prior to this, Geraldine was the Human Resources Manager for Bai Brands from 2015 to 2017. In this role, Geraldine was responsible for all employee relations in the company’s Bordentown warehousing and distribution facility, supporting the distribution center through its acquisition by Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (now Keurig Dr. Pepper NYSE: KDP) for $1.7 billion in 2017.

Geraldine received her Bachelor of Arts from American Intercontinental University with a concentration in Human Resource Management. Geraldine also holds an MBA with a concentration in Human Resources Management from the University of St. Mary.