Contact Us

Mike Burley

Founder (Retired)

E: mburley@burleyfoods.com

Mike founded Burley Foods in November 1976, and feels proud and blessed having built an organization that has great customers and a team that takes care of them in the manner he envisioned when he launched the company.

Mike feels his biggest achievement is when he became a paid consultant for the company that ultimately became Burley Foods’ biggest customer – which laid the foundation for the rewarding relationships he has with all of Burley Foods’ clients.

In his free time Mike likes boating, Minnesota Gopher sports, and spending time with his Grandkids.

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Bryan Burley

President

E: bburley@burleyfoods.com

In August of 2002 Bryan launched his career at Burley Foods, and has consistently added to his responsibilities. His first 3 years he was a customer service representative, and moved into sales in 2005. Bryan’s hard work and success were recognized by being named Vice President in 2009, and – in December of 2016 – becoming President

Through all of his roles Bryan became intimately aware of the needs for all of Burley Foods’ clients, and prides himself on working with them personally to find solutions to any ingredient challenge. He is a member and past-President of the FIND group – a nationwide network of Food Ingredient Representatives.

Bryan and his wife are blessed with two beautiful, incredible daughters at home. He loves being active, and appreciates the outdoors – especially back country hiking, canoeing and camping with his family. Bryan is passionate about watching Lacrosse and is a proud UMD Lacrosse Alumni.

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Janine Maurer

General Manager / Account Manager

E: jmaurer@burleyfoods.com

Janine started working for Burley Foods in 1995 as a customer service representative and was always looking for more challenges. After 7 years in customer service she moved into a sales position. In recognition of her contributions to Burley Foods’ success Janine was promoted to General Manager in 2005 while continuing her sales responsibilities.

Janine enjoys the friendships she has developed with both customers and suppliers. She welcomes the many learning opportunities. She especially values spending time with customers to understand their needs, and then investigating what best fits their applications. Spending time at Burley’s supplier facilities allows her to see how food components are manufactured and learns about each supplier’s capabilities – which helps her bring more value to Burley’s customers. She also appreciates any challenges that come along because they make her a better salesperson and manager.

Away from Burley, Janine enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, son and their Chihuahua; whether watching her kids sporting events or going on long bike rides near their home. On weekends in the fall and winter she likes to spend time away, scrapbooking with friends. During the summer, Janine escapes to her mom’s cabin where she enjoys fishing and swimming with the family, or getting away for camping trips where she enjoys relaxing by the pool or campfire.

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Mark Chura

Executive R&D Chef

E: mchura@burleyfoods.com

Mark has been with Burley Foods since 2010, providing unique insights developed over 20 years of experience. He has created and executed food solutions for Five Star/Four Diamond resorts, family resorts, premier private clubs, restaurants and catered events.

As a Culinary Institute of America graduate and has extensive knowledge of French, Italian, Latin American, Asian and fusion cooking. By combining his culinary expertise with his knowledge of ever changing food and market trends, Mark showcases and matched Burley Foods’ product and ingredient capabilities with each client’s needs

Mark is an active member of the American Culinary Federation as well as the Research Chefs Association. He credits this network of some of the greatest minds in the industry with furthering his education and giving him an inside edge on trends and products to come.

Mark and his wife have 2 small sons that keep them very busy! They enjoy spending family time together, playing at the park, swimming, or going on amusement rides at the Mall of America.

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Jeff Baker

R&D Chef

E: jbaker@burleyfoods.com

After an impressive career as chef at country clubs and restaurants, Jeff became a member of the Burley team in December, 2010,. He appreciates the opportunity to see the food industry from a completely different perspective. Working with new varieties of foods and collaborating with creative culinary people keeps his job interesting, challenging and demanding (in a positive way).

Jeff was awarded his culinary certificate from Le Cordon Bleu in 2002. Outside of work you can find him bass fishing, golfing, playing pool, grilling steaks, and spending time with his new bride and their 2 horses Nightshade and Firefly.

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Marilyn Schmitz

Customer Service

E:mschmitz@burleyfoods.com

Marilyn joined the Burley team at the end of 2022 as a customer service representative. She enjoys staying busy and having an engaging career working with suppliers and customers relationships. Marilyn spent most of her career in the public sector after obtaining her B.S. in Criminal Justice, working within the justice system including corrections and mental health hospital security. Although jumping into a new career, Marilyn has learned many valuable things from her experiences. Marilyn appreciates how close the team at Burley is and only expects to grow closer with them as she learns more and more about them and the business.

In her free time, Marilyn loves to crochet, read, tend to her many house plants, and spend time with her 2 dogs . In the winter she enjoys snowboarding with friends, in the summer she loves trying out new patios and restaurants with friends will find any excuse to be outside.

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Mary Scheu

Account and Supplier Manager

E: mscheu@burleyfoods.com

Originally from a small town in southern Minnesota, Mary broadened her horizons by becoming a food industry veteran. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School and rose impressively through the ranks at some of the world’s best restaurants.

Building on her culinary background, Mary gained experience in the fields of event management, sales and marketing and food styling – which prepared her for finding a home at Burley Foods in 2016.

Outside of work, Mary enjoys cooking as a hobby, gardening, yoga and hiking.

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Kati Johngrass

Customer Service Manager

E: kjohngrass@burleyfoods.com

Kati joined Burley Foods in early 2015 and is the Customer Service Manager. Kati thoroughly enjoys getting to know the customers and suppliers she works with and values developing relationships with customers even if she rarely gets to see them. She also delights in the many projects she gets to delve into at Burley and loves the close knit atmosphere.

In her free time, Kati loves to travel. She and her husband enjoy taking a beach vacation nearly every year and have aspirations to visit every continent together. Kati also enjoys camping, reading, and spending time with her nieces and nephews.

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Beverly Parnell

Account Manager

E: bparnell@burleyfoods.com

Beverly Parnell has been in the food industry since 1990, building her career as a respected sales professional in the industry. She already appreciates the relationships she’s developed with her account base at Burley Foods.

Beverly’s experience includes food service and retail brokerage, retail food manufacturing and distribution, as well as convenience store distribution. In each of these roles her customers always viewed her as an asset to their team. Much of Beverly’s time was dedicated to the deli and meat industry. Her most important accomplishment was launching a deli division for a large retail distributor that quickly bvecame a significant contributor to the company’s success.

Beverly grew up in the Twin Cities area, has 2 daughters and currently lives in Florida. When she isn’t talking about food, she enjoys boating, traveling and the Minnesota Vikings.

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Sara Rodriguez

Sales Director

E: srodriguez@burleyfoods.com

Sara Rodriguez joined the Burley Foods team September 2016 as an Account Manager. She has been in the Food industry going on 12 years following the completion of her Bachelor’s Degree from St. Cloud State University. She started her career at Newport Cold Storage learning the ins and outs of warehousing and logistics, then moved to Cargill as a Sales Account Manager in the Oils & Shortening business unit. Her experience brings a passion for customer satisfaction, efficiency, food ingredient market and trends, and project management.

Outside of work, Sara appreciates the time spent with her family – husband Adam and their two children, Sam & Maggie. The kids keep them busy with school and sport activities. They also enjoy spending time with extended family and friends in the summer on Mille Lacs Lake where they fish, swim with the kids, lay in the sun, and catch-up around the bonfire. When they find time they also love to travel to fun and warm destinations!

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Jeremy St.Germain

Customer Service Representative

E: jstgermain@burleyfoods.com

Jeremy began his career in the food industry at age 11 in his mother’s restaurant. Inheriting his Mother’s love of cooking, he enrolled and graduated from the Scottsdale Culinary Institute in 2001. He brings a wide variety of experience in the food industry to Burley, including working for 4 years as a Chocolatier, and then spent 12 years in retail management in the wine industry.

His family just grew when he recently rescued a pitbull mix named Kent. For Fun he enjoys cooking (a lot!) and visiting family in northern Minnesota whenever he can. He also loves to travel, sing karaoke, play guitar, go hiking, play pool, make some home brews, bike and camp.

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Liz Rivera

Customer Service Representative

E: lrivera@burleyfoods.com

Liz Rivera joined the Burley Foods team in April 2022 as a Customer Service Representative. Liz comes from a background in manufacturing, customer service, and has worked in various restaurants throughout her career. She has developed a passion for helping others and enjoys the opportunities that come from helping suppliers and customers at Burley Foods.

When she isn’t learning the ins-and-outs of the food industry, Liz loves to travel and find new adventures. She loves spending time exploring the beautiful outdoors of Minnesota with her German Shepherd, hiking and camping, cooking, and keeping up to date with the real estate market.