Leadership & Governance

Frank Dennis

President & CEO | Director

Mr. Dennis leads Swiss Water with over 30 years of experience in the coffee industry. His background is in packaged goods marketing with Braun Canada and Kraft Foods Canada. Mr. Dennis led the $300 million Kraft coffee portfolio in the late 1990s and was responsible for the sale of the Swiss Water Division to private equity interests in 2000. As President and CEO of Swiss Water, he has led the growth of the business through major expansions and a critical move of all production capacity to a new long-term site culminating in Delta in 2023. He has overseen the development of the brand in many jurisdictions and championed the importance of chemical free decaffeination in the industry such that chemical free decaffeination is now the fastest growing segment in caffeine reduced green coffee processing. Mr. Dennis is highly involved in the specialty coffee industry and has served on several boards including “Grounds For Health”, a charity dedicated to reducing cancer in women living in coffee-producing regions, the World Coffee Research Foundation and the Canadian Coffee Association. Mr. Dennis earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Western Ontario, and an M.B.A. from the University of Toronto.

Iain Carswell

Chief Financial Officer

As Chief Financial Officer of Swiss Water, Mr. Carswell is responsible for the corporate finance, external financial reporting, compliance, risk management, and investor relations functions of the company. He is an experienced financial executive in large multisite manufacturing environments, and has broad experience operating in international markets. Prior to joining Swiss Water in 2018, Mr. Carswell spent 15 years with Mars Inc, a global food and confectionary company, most recently as CFO of Mars Turkey. He has been a proven business leader throughout his career, and has in-depth knowledge of all aspects of accounting, financial reporting, risk management, and strategic planning. He holds a B.Comm. from the University of Edinburgh, and an M.Sc. from the University of Stirling. Mr. Carswell is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Barry Close

Vice President | Operations

Heavily focused on achieving operational excellence, Mr. Close is responsible for the quality and productivity of operations and the health and safety of employees at Swiss Water. Mr. Close brings more than 40 years’ experience with technical processes in the manufacturing industry to Swiss Water. He initially joined Swiss Water as the Plant Manager in 2007 and was promoted to VP Operations in 2010. Prior to that, Mr. Close worked in the premium specialty coated paper manufacturing industry where he managed various aspects of paper manufacturing operations. Mr. Close has completed technical training at Cariboo College (now Thompson Rivers University) in Kamloops, BC and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Additionally, he has trained as an Electrical Technologist and on Six Sigma methodologies with Lean Kaizen process, which promotes the approach of Everywhere Improvement, Everybody Improvement and Everyday Improvement.

Marisol Pinzon

Managing Director | Trading and Development

Marisol Pinzon brings more than a decade of commitment to Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Inc. in her role as Managing Director of Trading & Development. Before Swiss Water, Ms. Pinzon worked in green coffee sales for the Federation Nacional de Colombia. Ms. Pinzon brings extensive knowledge of the international green coffee market to her role at Swiss Water, with more than 15 years experience—primarily working in Asia and her native Latin America. Ms. Pinzon speaks five languages, and has a deep understanding of intercultural communication. She holds a degree from the Universidad Externado de Colombia.

Emmanuel Dias

Vice President | Europe

Mr. Dias joins Swiss Water with over 15 years of experience in the coffee trade as our VP Europe. Based in Bordeaux, France, Mr. Dias leads our European office and provides key market strategy and support to our European distributors as the Swiss Water brand continues to grow across international markets.

Mr. Dias brings with him a background in coffee and cacao trade management, including roles with COFCO International (formerly Noble Agri) and Touton SA. Mr. Dias served on the board of the Swiss Coffee Trade Association for two years. His academic background includes postgraduate specialties in Economics, Banking, Finance, and International Trading from the University of Bordeaux.

Kurt Dyck

Principal Engineer

Mr. Dyck is responsible for the engineering aspects of the operation from process optimization through to capital project management. Until recently, Mr. Dyck has had management oversight of the implementation and operation of the Swiss Water quality management system. Strongly focused on continuous improvement, Mr. Dyck has influenced the improvement of Swiss Water decaf quality and driven increases in process capacity.

Mr. Dyck originally joined Swiss Water in 1987 as process engineer when it was part of Nabob Foods Ltd. He was involved in the pilot plant that resulted in the process as it is today. Over the next 7 years Mr. Dyck optimized quality and increased plant capacity. He then left to pursue a career in operations management for a manufacturer of hair care products. Since returning to Swiss Water in 2002, Mr. Dyck has continued to help drive quality through process improvement and capacity to support and meet business growth. Mr. Dyck has a B.A.Sc. in Engineering Physics and an MBA from the University of British Columbia.

Sam Hameed

Director | Human Resources

As Director of Human Resources, Mr. Hameed brings leadership insights and experience from a range of Human Resources roles within the manufacturing, construction, and transportation industries. His strong track record in the strategic and operational management of people and provision of value-added solutions to achieve business objectives ensures the Swiss Water teams are aligned, valued, and driven toward corporate goals.

Mr. Hameed has over a decade of experience incorporating the delivery of operational services, performance management, recruitment, employee relations, team, and project management. His strategic approach to managing and guiding people drives performance improvements across all facets of the growing organization.

Erin Reed

Director | Marketing

Ms. Reed brings to Swiss Water more than two decades of marketing experience. As Director of Marketing, she is responsible for advancing consumer awareness and preference for coffee decaffeinated by the Swiss Water® Process, and delivering brand value for roaster and importer partners globally. Ms. Reed brings her broad-based experience, extensive insight, and market knowledge to this critical role.

Prior to joining Swiss Water, Ms. Reed spent over a decade in the specialty coffee industry and several years in the premium golf segment. Her experience includes domestic and international marketing and product management. Ms. Reed holds a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and an M.A. in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco.

Frank Dennis

Director, CEO

Mr. Dennis leads Swiss Water with over 25 years of experience in the coffee industry. His background is in packaged goods marketing with Braun Canada and Kraft Foods Canada. Mr. Dennis led the $300 million Kraft coffee portfolio in the late 1990s and was responsible for the sale of the Swiss Water Division to private equity interests in 2000. As President and CEO of Swiss Water, he has led the growth of the business through several major expansions, overseen the development of the brand in many jurisdictions and has championed the importance of chemical free decaffeination in the industry. Mr. Dennis is highly involved in the specialty coffee industry, has served on several boards including “Grounds For Health”, a charity dedicated to reducing cancer in women living in coffee-producing regions, the World Coffee Research Foundation and the Canadian Coffee Association. Mr. Dennis earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Western Ontario, and an M.B.A. from the University of Toronto.

Justin C. Jacobs

Director

Mr. Jacobs is currently a Management Committee Director of Mill Road Capital Management LLC (“Mill Road”), an investment firm focused on investments in small, publicly traded companies. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of Swiss Water in November 2022, pursuant to Mill Road’s existing Board nomination rights.  Mr. Jacobs has been with Mill Road since the firm’s founding in 2005. Previously, he worked at LiveWire Capital, an investment and management group focused on operationally intensive buyouts of middle market companies. While employed at LiveWire, he held various operational positions in numerous portfolio companies, including interim Chief Operating Officer, in addition to investment responsibilities.  Prior to working at LiveWire, Mr. Jacobs was an investment professional in the private equity group at The Blackstone Group. Mr. Jacobs has been a director at numerous public and private companies in both Canada and the USA.  He holds a BSC (Finance & Accounting) from the University of Virginia. Mr. Jacobs joined Swiss Water in November 2022.

Robert B. Johnston

Director

Mr. Johnston is Chief Strategy Officer of The InterTech Group Inc., a leading, private investment company based in South Carolina, USA. He brings extensive public company and related industry experience to Swiss Water having served on the boards of a number of domestic and international companies in the packaging, food and agricultural industries. Mr. Johnston’s previous experience includes serving as Deputy Governor, President and CEO of the Hudson’s Bay Company. He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Public Administration, and an MBA from Concordia University in Montreal, and has completed the University of Oxford Advanced Management and Leadership Program in the UK. Mr. Johnston also holds the Icd.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Nancy McKenzie

Director

Ms. McKenzie’s over 30-year experience as a financial professional includes a senior executive position within the industrial manufacturing & service businesses, immersing in the consumer branded and private label foods sector, and articling at a large public practice accounting firm.  Her experience comprises large-scale capital project oversight of manufacturing office & infrastructure facilities as well as marine & industrial equipment during her 12-year tenure as the Chief Financial Officer at Seaspan ULC.  Currently, she is the Chair of the Board of Governors at the University of British Columbia, is an Advisory Board member for a privately-owned manufacturing business, and serves on the Board of Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union as the Vice Chair, where she is also the Chair of the Risk Committee and a member of the Audit and Finance Committee.  She is a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC, holds an ICD.D designation as she completed the Directors’ Education Program at the Institute of Corporate Directors, and she also holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo). Ms. McKenzie joined Swiss Water in February 2021.

Don Tringali

Director

Don Tringali is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Augusta Advisory Group, a US-based boutique financial and business consulting firm providing a full range of executive, operations and corporate advisory services to companies. He has held a variety of C-level executive positions and directorships for public and private companies across many industries.  He is the former Chairman of the Board of National Technical Systems, Inc., a leading international testing and engineering firm which was sold to a private equity firm in 2013, and the former Executive Chairman of the Board of Cartesian, Inc., an international telecom consulting company, which was sold to private equity in 2018. Mr. Tringali began his career as a corporate attorney in Los Angeles, where he was a partner in a prominent firm representing public and private companies in general business matters and M&A transactions. Mr. Tringali holds a BA in Economics from UCLA and a JD (Juris Doctor) degree from Harvard Law School.

Roland W. Veit

Director

A native of Switzerland, Mr. Veit is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Paragon Coffee Trading Company (“Paragon”), a medium sized US green coffee importing/trading house. Paragon is a limited partnership. The general partner is Rovedo Inc. and Mr. Veit is the President, Secretary and Treasurer of this company. Mr. Veit started his business and coffee career at Nestle’s world headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland in 1972. He also worked for Nestle USA and South Africa. In 1978, Mr. Veit left Nestle to work as a coffee trader, first in Johannesburg and then in New York, before co-founding Paragon in 1986. He served on the board of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) from 1989 to 1992, and SCAA’s International Relations Committee for seven years, of which, the last three years as Chairman. Mr. Veit’s experience include board services for Green Coffee Association of New York (GCA) from 1998 until 2007, including two terms as Chairman.

Alan Wallace

Director, Chair of the Board

Mr. Wallace has worked for more than 30 years in corporate finance including as Vice Chairman and Managing Director of CIBC World Markets Inc. He is currently the CEO of Peloton Advisors Inc., a corporate financial advisory firm. Throughout his career, he has worked with both private and public companies in industries similar and adjacent to Swiss Water’s business, including distribution, processing plants, international operations, and branding. Many of these organizations provide perspectives on commodity-based businesses that are relevant to Swiss Water. He brings to the Board extensive experience in capital markets, commodity industries, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, securities regulatory matters, financial and accounting matters, international business, equity and debt financings and corporate strategic planning. He currently serves on the Board and is the Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Compensation and HR Committee at Mercer International Inc., a global forest products company. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Mechanical Engineering) from the University of Toronto and the ICD.D designation.