Sunstar is a global company with Japanese heritage

Michel Pettigrew

Chairman

Michel became Chair of the Board in 2024. He has over 45 years’ business experience and is a former long-term president and COO of the pharmaceutical business, Ferring Group. He also held senior leadership positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb for over 23 years. Michel’s current non-executive roles include IRRAS Holdings and family-owned Hovione.

Mayumi Kaneda

Board Member

Mayumi joined the Board in 2025. The eldest child of Hiroo Kaneda, Mayumi first joined Sunstar in 1991, leading on various initiatives, including the establishment of the Group Global Headquarters in Switzerland. She has been a Director of the Sunstar Foundation since 2005 and has been a Fellow of the Board of Harvard School of Dental Medicine since 2021. She received her MBA from SDA Bocconi Business School in Italy in 1999.

Marcel Schmid

Board Member

Marcel joined the Board in 2025. With over 30 years' experience in corporate governance and finance across public and private companies, he has held senior management positions at UBS Investment Banking and DKSH. He holds an MBA from IMD Business School, Lausanne. He is the President of the Swiss-Hong Kong Business Association and a member of the Advisory Board to the Family Governance & Family Office Excellence Program organized by the Europa Institute at the University of Zurich.

Yuji Okamoto

Chair of the Executive Committee, Finance and Technology

Yuji leads the global finance and IT functions. He played an instrumental role in building Sunstar’s international footprint and was involved in establishing both the Industrial business’s headquarters in Singapore, and the Group and Consumer business headquarters in Switzerland.

Yuji has a degree in Commerce from Kwansei Gakuin University.

Kimio Shibata

Consumer, Japan & Asia

Kimio has been leader of Sunstar’s consumer businesses in Japan and Asia since 2023. He previously led corporate planning across the Asia region. Kimio joined Sunstar in 1991 and has held senior roles in Sales, IT and Innovation.

Kimio graduated from Kyoto Prefectural University.

Marco Bruscaini

Consumer, Europe

Marco became leader of Sunstar’s Consumer business in Europe in 2020. He joined Sunstar in 2000 as a Marketing Manager, progressing to become General Manager of the Italian subsidiary. He previously held various roles in marketing and category management at Gillette.

Marco complemented his technical education with further studies in Executive Management, Leadership and Marketing at IMD, Bocconi University Milan, and ISTUD.

Masaki Ukai

Industrial

Masaki became head of Sunstar’s Industrial business globally in 2023 having joined Sunstar in 1989, specialising in research and development (R&D). Masaki has held a wide range of roles in R&D and general management in the USA, China, Thailand and Japan.

Masaki graduated from Osaka Institute of Technology with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1989.

Christine Truillet

Consumer, Marketing

Christine joined Sunstar in 2018 and leads our Global Marketing function. Prior to her role at Sunstar, she was a member of the North America leadership of the Crafts business at global manufacturer Coats. Previously, she was a Director at P&G and a Group Business Leader at the Gillette Company. At Sunstar, she leads the global development of our portfolio of brands, including GUM.

Christine holds an MBA from Aston University in Birmingham, UK, and a MBA in International Affairs from the ICN Business School, France.

Wieland Noetzold

Governance, Risk and Compliance

Wieland heads Sunstar’s global Governance, Risk Management and Internal Audit agenda. He joined Sunstar in 2010, having previously held compliance and finance related management positions at Ciba-Geigy, Syngenta and Novartis, in Switzerland and Japan.

Wieland has a Doctorate from Radboud University, Netherlands. He is Vice President of the Swiss-Japanese Chamber of Commerce and of the Japan Club of Geneva.

René Bujard

HR & Corporate Communications

René leads the Human Resources & Corporate Communications function. He joined Sunstar in August 2023 as HR Director for EMEA and the Group HQ in Switzerland. He began his career and spent over two decades at P&G where he worked in both business unit and corporate HR roles in a wide variety of international locations across Asia, Europe and the Americas. René also led the HR function at Oxfam as Global HR Director in a time of transformational change, and increased scientific and operational excellence as HR Director at Galderma.

René holds a Master's degree in Commercial and Industrial Sciences from the University of Geneva.