OUR TEAM

SSR Lifesciences partners with experts across the Johnsonville organization, including key functional areas such as Logistics, Food Safety/Quality, Operations, Research and Development, Engineering, Animal Procurement and Finance.

LAUREN SAMMEL

Lauren Sammel is the Director of SSR responsible for all facets of the business. She is passionate about porcine material and creating high-valued solutions through partnerships.

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LAUREN SAMMEL

Lauren Sammel is the Director of SSR responsible for all facets of the business. She is passionate about porcine material and creating high-valued solutions through partnerships. Lauren is an accomplished leader with over 15 years of professional experience in the animal/meat industry. She is recognized for her innovative and strategic mindset and possesses strong learning agility, project management, team building, and communication skills with proven ability to translate technical possibilities into business opportunities.

Before joining SSR in 2018, Lauren held roles in Research and Development for both Johnsonville and Kraft Foods and has experiences in upfront development, commercialization and production line start-up, collaborative industry-university research, and team leadership. She most recently held the role of Enabling Technologies Coordinator for Johnsonville and was responsible for developing and maintaining the company technology strategy while leveraging both internal and external resources to deliver technical innovations for growth and quality initiatives.

Lauren holds PhD and MS degrees in Food Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Kansas State University, respectively.
Her B.S. degree in Animal Science was received from Virginia Tech.

JESSICA FREEMAN

Jessica Freeman is the Business Manager responsible for partnering with our clients and operations management.

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JESSICA FREEMAN

Jessica Freeman is the Business Development Coordinator responsible for partnering with current and prospective clients, operations management, and coordinating with the facility teams on specifications and procedures. She leads a team that defines and establishes the ideal process for delivering custom porcine materials that meet the detailed requirements of each customer.

Jessica previously worked as an Animal Health Technician and an Animal Control Officer in Iowa. She also spent two and a half years serving in the
Peace Corps as a Rural Aquaculture Extension Agent developing a sustainable protein food source in Zambia.

Jessica holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) in Natural Resource Ecology and Management: Animal Ecology/Wildlife from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

DUANE DRAEGER

Duane Draeger is a Commodity Purchaser and Sales Coordinator. In his current role, he is focused on production planning.

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DUANE DRAEGER

Duane Draeger is a Commodity Purchaser and Sales Coordinator. In his current role, he is focused on production planning and meat purchasing for Johnsonville, LLC, as well as sales for SSR Lifesciences.

Duane has been with Johnsonville for 35 years. In that time, he has worked in a multitude of areas, including formulation, harvest processing, packaging, shipping/receiving, and production scheduling.

Duane began supporting SSR sales in the 1990s. He has great experience and knowledge about the commodity market, and sells meat, offal, and pharmaceutical items to both domestic and international markets. He has built and maintains strong relationships with many customers on behalf of Johnsonville and SSR Lifesciences.

Pete Whyte

Pete Whyte is the Sales Manager for SSR. He is responsible for the development and execution of SSR sales strategies across multiple channels.

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Pete Whyte

Pete Whyte is the Sales Manager for SSR. He is responsible for the development and execution of SSR sales strategies across multiple channels including but not limited to human consumption, pet food, pharmaceutical, medical device, and research.
His efforts support continuously realizing the value and societal importance of porcine raw materials.

Pete has a passion for the protein industry with over 15 years of sales and business development experience in the meat and seafood categories. He is focused on delivering superlative customer service through collaboration, accountability and communication. He previously worked in the retail and food service sectors for JBS USA, Neesvig Purveyors, Newport Meat Company, and
The Fish Guys/Market House Meats.

Pete holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from the
University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.