Chicago, IL - Datassential, the leading food and beverage insights platform connecting the dots between consumers and the food industry, today announced that its board of directors has appointed Jim Emling as the company’s new CEO. Jack Li, current CEO, co-founder, and board member has been appointed as executive chairman.

“The board of directors and I are thrilled that Jim will serve as the next CEO of Datassential,” said Li. “We’re a fast-growing company, and I know that both Datassential and our customers will benefit tremendously from Jim’s leadership – he’s the ideal person to guide us through our next leap forward, focusing always on helping our customers succeed in their goals.”

As executive chairman, Li will remain involved in defining the product vision and helping Datassential continue as a forefront thought leader in the food service industry. His daily focus will be on product innovation and delivering exceptional insights to hundreds of customers across the food landscape. “Datassential is such a cool company. We’re all driven here by a singular focus to do amazing work that supports our industry, and I’m pumped that this move allows me to focus 100% of my time helping make our industry smarter,” said Li.

Emling is currently the chief operating officer of Datassential and has served on its board of directors since September 2019. Since joining Datassential, Emling has been responsible for the daily operations of nearly all aspects of the business including sales, engineering, customer success, and finance. In his current role, Emling has driven Datassential to its fastest growth period in company history, in large part due to his emphasis on helping customers innovate and sell smarter. He also led Datassential’s acquisition of CHD Expert Group in early 2022 – the company’s first.

“It’s hard to describe how thoroughly I’ve been impressed by the world-class team at Datassential. This company has a truly uncommon devotion to its customers and the industry at large that you just don’t often see. It really is inspiring to feel like we are part of something bigger than just ourselves, and I look forward to carrying this tradition forward as we continue to grow,” remarked Emling.

Emling is an established business leader with experience across the data and food industries, spending the past several years helping operators, manufacturers, and distributors navigate to success in the wake of Covid. Previously, he was the long-time president of Zywave, which he helped to scale from $0 to $100 million of revenue. He also currently serves on the board of several innovative data businesses including Ease, Bitly, and Expert Institute. He received an MBA from Marquette University where he graduated summa cum laude. Emling also holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin in both computer science and accounting, where he graduated summa cum laude with honors.

About Datassential

Datassential is the data insights platform influencing what’s next on your plate and in your glass. Through a suite of intelligence tools, software and custom research solutions, and an unlimited insights library, Datassential guides the biggest names in food and beverage on what’s next for the industry and how to stay ahead of it. Founded in 1999, Datassential powers insights for brands including General Mills, Pepsi, Land O’ Lakes, Burger King, Starbucks, Target and more.