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Scott Hine Hired as Chief Production Officer at Every Co.

Image courtesy of Scott Hine

The EVERY Co. Hires Food and Precision Fermentation Veteran Scott Hine to Scale Up Manufacturing

Egg protein specialist The EVERY Co. announces it has appointed food and fermentation veteran Scott Hine as Chief Production Officer. In Hine’s new role, he will lead the growth of EVERY’s manufacturing footprint as it expands its commercial partnerships, and works to reach price parity with chicken eggs.  As a former executive at Kraft Foods, Accenture and Novus International, Hine brings over three decades of experience in agriculture, consulting, and consumer food products.  At Novus International, which produces nutrition solutions – including those made from fermentation – for livestock and aquaculture, Hine served as Chief Innovation Officer and oversaw a +$250M global business portfolio while leading the development of technology and innovation partnerships.  Growing Every’s footprint At EVERY, Hine will head the company’s initiatives to …

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Simon Owen Head of Redefine Meat UK, image supplied

Redefine Meat Hires Simon Owen of Bacardi & Unilever as Head of UK Operations

Redefine Meat announces the appointment of FMCG leader, Simon Owen, to Head of Redefine Meat in the UK, where he will strengthen Redefine Meat’s foothold in UK foodservice and gain new regional markets and retail listings. Owen brings to the Israeli company 20 years of UK and international experience in FMCG including roles as Managing Director of Bacardi, Australia and UK Sales Director for Bacardi, and Director of EMEA for Britvic and Customer Director for Unilever. Redefine’s portfolio includes premium whole cuts, mince-based products, and pulled meat all made entirely from plant-based ingredients, with a focus on high-end dining. Owen is joining Redefine Meat to drive further UK sales growth, with its “new-meat” now served at up to 3,000 foodservice locations across Europe and Israel. …

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Russell Thomas, Clever Carnivore

© Clever Carnivore

Cultivated Meat Startup Clever Carnivore Hires Tyson Foods’ Russell Thomas

Clever Carnivore announces the hiring of Russell Thomas as VP of product development, to accelerate the development of its debut consumer product, the Clever Bratwurst. Clever Carnivore states that the hire propels the company into the prototype development stage, meaning its cost-competitive sausages, burgers, and chicken nuggets, will “will soon be a reality”. Upon its $2.1M raise last year, CEO Virginia Rangos said, “We’re hoping to eventually get — and we think this is quite practical — to a $1 burger, essentially,” adding, “We think we will have product prototype ready by the end of 2023.” The startup, Chicago’s first cultivated meat company, harnesses cell biology, recombinant protein technology, and advanced bioreactor design, with the objective of creating consumer products that compete on taste, price, …

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Jasmijn de Boo, CEO of ProVeg International

Jasmijn de Boo, CEO of ProVeg International, image supplied

Jasmijn de Boo Appointed as First Global CEO of ProVeg International

Jasmijn de Boo has become the first CEO of food awareness NGO ProVeg International. In addition to her work at ProVeg, where she has served as VP since 2018, de Boo is the co-Chair of the European Alliance for Plant Based Food (EAPF) as well as Board member of the European Vegetarian Union (EVU), and advisor to mission-aligned organisations around the world. ProVeg says that De Boo has significantly contributed to the growth and impact of the organisation, which operates in 11 countries with over 220 employees. An example of one of her achievements with ProVeg is when she helped to defeat the proposed EU ‘veggie burger ban’ in 2020 as well as Amendment 171 in 2021 which sought to place unprecedented restrictions on plant-based …

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Dave Brett Wasser Joins VegTech Leadership Council

Image supplied by Dave Brett Wasser

Notable Investor Dave Brett Wasser Joins VegTech Invest Thought Leadership Council

VegTech™ Invest announces influential investor Dave Brett Wasser is joining the VegTech™ Invest Thought Leadership Council. As the newest Advisor to the Council, Wasser will share his knowledge alongside six other renowned experts, including Princeton Ethics Professor Peter Singer, in the areas of Ethics, Environmental Justice, Alternatives Investing, Product Brand Strategy, Next Gen Leadership and Health.   Wasser’s previous accomplishments include Cruelty-Free Investing, a website that helps users align investments with their values by indexing companies that do or do not exploit animals.  “President Dr. Sasha Goodman and I have our heads down in the markets, focusing on investing in a sustainable transition of the global food system,” says VegTech Invest CEO Elysabeth Alfano. “We want to surround ourselves with experts who can brief us …

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Handtmann_management

(From left to right): Harald Suchanka (CEO F&P), Valentin Ulrich, Thomas Handtmann, Markus Handtmann, Dr. Mark Betzold (CTO F&P)

Fifth Generation of the Handtmann Family to Lead the Handtmann Group of Companies

Handtmann Group, employing around 4,100 people worldwide and represented in over 100 countries, announces that Markus Handtmann and Valentin Ulrich represent the fifth generation of the Handtmann family to assume the management of the Handtmann Group of Companies, effective 1st April 2023. Twenty-five years ago, Thomas Handtmann took over the management of the family business from his father Arthur Handtmann. Turnover between then and now has more than quadrupled to 1.1 billion euros. As of the end of June 2023, Thomas will move to the Advisory Boards and transfer responsibility for the group of companies to son Markus Handtmann and nephew Valentin Ulrich. “From a medium-sized enterprise in Upper Swabia, we have developed into an internationally operating technology company. What is important to me personally …

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The Live Green Co - Team Picture

© The LiveGreen Co

The Plant Revolution: Clean Label Food Needs to Be The Norm, Not the Exception

Priyanka “Pri” Srinivas, founder and CEO of The Live Green Co, here writes a special guest article for vegconomist, putting forth her thoughts on why companies in the health food industry need to get on board with clean label products. Perspectives on healthy eating have been shifting significantly worldwide, inaugurating a general “green” trend moving towards more plant-based and sustainable diets. It was shown that plant-only eating doubled in continental Europe between 2016 and 2020 and another report found the number of vegans in the United States rocketed up by 500% over a similar time period.  While it is important that this “plant revolution” retains its authenticity and credibility, even vegan ‘meats’ can fall into the newly recognized category of ‘ultra-processed’ food, which has been …

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Playground co-founders inc Christina Aguilera

© Playground

Christina Aguilera Joins Vegan Sexual Wellness Brand Playground as Co-Founder

Playground, a sexual wellness brand of water-based personal lubricants created by women for women, announces Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera has joined as co-founder and chief brand advisor. Aguilera will work alongside CEO Catherine Magee and Co-founder Sandy Vukovic, to shed stigma around the discussion of sexual health and “further champion the brand’s mission to create an open dialogue around sexual wellness”. Playground creates intimate health products consciously designed for women’s skin, stating that while others focus purely on lubrication, Playground products “hydrate, soothe and spark the libido with plant-based ingredients that are clean, vegan and free of harmful ingredients – it’s like premium skincare for the vagina.” The brand’s debut collection of personal lubricants start at $25 with the aim of democratizing access to …

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V Label Food Heroes

© V-Label

V-Label’s Food Heroes 2023 Recognises 20 Pioneers of a Plant-Based, Cruelty-Free World

V-Label, the world’s leading vegan and vegetarian trademark, reveals its 2023 Food Heroes, celebrating 20 individuals spanning education, activism, research, technology, politics, and entrepreneurship, all working towards the common goal of transforming outdated food systems and changing the narrative around the possibilities of thriving without harming the planet. The food heroes recognised in the 2023 awards will be well-known to most of our readers, and are as follows: Tobias Leenaert: Author / Co-founder, Proveg David Yeung: Founder and CEO, Green Monday Ignacia Uribe: Founder, President & CEO, Vegetarianos Hoy Olaoluwa Fashola: Founder & CEO, Casa Vegan Zoltan Toth-Czifra: Founder & CEO, Real Deal Milk Deniz Ficicioglu: Co-founder & Co-CEO, BettaF!sh and Oceanfruit Niccolo Galizzi: Head of Product Development, Revo Foods Priyanka Srinivas: Founder & CEO, …

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Vegan Society CEO

Steve Hamon © The Vegan Society

Vegan Society CEO Visits South Korea as Country’s Vegan Market Surges

Vegan Society CEO Steve Hamon is planning a trip to South Korea, as the country’s demand for plant-based products grows rapidly. 250 South Korean brands have now collectively registered almost 3000 products with the Vegan Society Trademark. As part of his visit, Hamon will meet trademark holders and attend events — including speaking at the country’s largest vegan exhibition, VeganFiesta. It is hoped that this will encourage more brands to register with the trademark. “The vegan certification system of the Vegan Trademark helps consumers easily check and purchase vegan products by giving credibility to their vegan status. As The Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark is an international mark, it works as a reliable indicator of the safety of our products and ingredients to consumers around the world,” …

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CEO & Co-Founder Julia Stamberger, Planting Hope

CEO & Co-Founder Julia Stamberger, ©Planting Hope

Julia Stamberger, CEO of The Planting Hope Company, is Elected to PBFA’s Board of Directors

The Planting Hope Company (CVE:MYLK), producer of Hope & Sesame and other plant-based foods, announces CEO and Co-founder Julia Stamberger has been elected to the Board of Directors for the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA), a leading US trade association representing manufacturers and suppliers in the plant-based foods industry.  The Planting Hope Company has been a member of the PBFA since July 2019, and its Hope and Sesame Sesamemilk and Mozaics Real Veggie Chips carry the PBFA vegan certification. “I am thrilled to be elected to join the PBFA board of directors by its membership,” said Planting Hope CEO and Co-founder Julia Stamberger. “Since the inception of the PBFA, the organization has worked to advance awareness of how the skyrocketing growth of plant-based food and …

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Fernando Machado/ Matias Muchnick

©NotCo

NotCo Hires Veteran Global Marketer Fernando Machado as New Chief Marketing Officer

Food tech unicorn NotCo announces it has hired Fernando Machado, a celebrated leader in global marketing, as its new Chief Marketing Officer, effective in April.  Known for “brilliant” marketing campaigns that pushed creative boundaries to drive business growth, Machado most recently served as CMO of Activision Blizzard, one of the world’s most successful entertainment and gaming companies. Prior to Activision, he also served as CMO for Restaurants Brands International, where he created award-winning advertising for brands like Burger King and Popeyes. Machado’s career began as an intern at Unilever, where he last worked as Global Brand Development VP for Dove.  $1.5Bn brand Machado’s hire follows NotCo’s $70M series D1 funding round in December, which valued the company at $1.5Bn. According to Machado, he has long …

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Sergey Solomatin

© Nobell Foods

Animal-Free Cheese Producer Nobell Foods Hires Former Impossible VP Sergey Solomatin

Nobell Foods, an animal-free cheese producer based in California, has hired Sergey Solomatin as its Vice President of Food Science and Product Development. Solomatin was previously at Impossible Foods for over a decade, where he created and led the Materials and Texture research group. This group was key in developing and launching Impossible’s Ground Beef products, among others. Solomatin will now bring his expertise in nucleic acid biochemistry, biophysics, polymer chemistry, and pharmaceutical sciences to Nobell Foods. According to the company, his arrival comes during a period of strategic growth. “At Nobell Foods, we harness the power of plants to create animal-free cheese with accessibility and craveability at the forefront,” said CEO and founder Magi Richani. “As we pioneer a new category in food with …

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Nair Flores

©The EVERY Co.

The EVERY Co. Appoints Nair Flores, Formerly of Facebook and UPSIDE Foods, to Lead Its IP Strategy

Food tech company The EVERY Co. announces it has appointed legal veteran Nair Flores as the company’s Senior Vice President, Head of Legal. Flores previously served in “seminal” roles at hypergrowth companies like Facebook, Lyft and Upside Foods. In her new role, Flores will lead EVERY’s IP estate as the company scales global production of its alternative proteins.  According to EVERY, the hiring of Flores comes as the company positions itself for key growth milestones for its nature-identical egg products. Flores will be tasked with leading the company’s legal strategy and laying the IP groundwork for EVERY’s expansion.  Flores brings 20 years of experience, most previously as Vice President, Legal at cultivated meat company Upside Foods, where she was instrumental in developing IP infrastructure and …

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Clean-Label Vegan Burger

©Great American Plant Co.

The Great American Plant Co: A Private Label Helping Retailers and Restaurants to Offer Lower Cost Plant-Based Products

As higher prices for plant-based proteins continue to challenge sales, one company is launching to help retailers and restaurants offer more affordable plant-based meats under their own brands. The Great American Plant Co. (GAPC) is a private-label manufacturer offering a line of plant-based foods, including burgers, meatballs and sausages, to retailers and food service operators.  What sets GAPC apart, the company states, is its focus on clean-label ingredients and lower prices; compared to major competitors, GAPC’s products wholesale for 10-20% less than other leading brands. In addition, GAPC’s proteins are wholly sourced and manufactured in North America, creating what it calls a ‘significantly smaller’ environmental footprint than its competitors.  “Great products that delight consumers” Founded in Dallas in 2020, GAPC offers a line of pea …

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