Nakyung (Rachel) Lew

Copack Manager 02/2018 to 05/2023

CJ Foods, La Palma, CA

Joined CJ Foods, a U.S. subsidiary of CJ CheilJedang, as Copack Manager in 2018. In 2023, after CJ Foods was acquired and integrated into Schwan’s Company, transitioned to a Contract Manufacturing Manager role within Schwan’s, expanding scope to oversee all contract manufacturing partnerships and strategic sourcing.

• Managed commercialization of frozen, shelf-stable sauce, and dry noodle SKUs for Bibigo, Annie Chun’s, Kahiki, and Pagoda brands.
• Oversaw relationships and production execution with 9 copackers over 7 years, including onboarding and qualifying 5 new partners.
• Directed $56M in annual production spend and managed 21 million lbs across 12 SKUs.
• Led contract negotiations and collaborated with Legal to ensure favorable terms.
• Collaborated with R&D, Packaging, and Procurement teams to optimize formulas and packaging.
• Mitigated over $1M in obsolete inventory by reallocating materials across co-manufacturers.
• Partnered with QA/FSQ and Demand Planning to resolve quality issues and ensure supply continuity.
• Supported vendor audits and maintained compliance standards.

• Sourced ingredients from Asia through brokers to support co-manufactured & in-house production while working in procurement organization at CJ Foods.

• Managed $35M in annual sales across 2,000+ SKUs and 100+ vendor accounts, including major brands such as Nestlé, Hershey’s, Coca-Cola, Smucker’s, Conagra, Unilever, MasterFoods, and Wrigley, among others.
• Spearheaded private label product development — from supplier selection and contract negotiation to production and market launch.
• Analyzed market trends to optimize product assortment and drive category performance.
• Collaborated with suppliers to negotiate pricing and terms, ensuring competitive positioning for both branded and private label lines.
• Developed promotional strategies that increased visibility and accelerated private label growth.
• Managed inventory through effective forecasting and planning, reducing stock discrepancies and improving availability.