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Meatable hires meat industry veterans

Image courtesy of Meatable

Meatable Hires Two Meat Industry Veterans in Strategic Move

Dutch cultivated meat company Meatable has strengthened its ties to the meat industry through the strategic hiring of two industry veterans. Maiko van der Meer is Meatable’s new Director of Commerce and will be based in the Netherlands. He has extensive experience in the meat, fish, poultry and plant-based industries, having led efforts at MOWI, Vion Food Group, 2 Sisters Food Group, and Tyson Foods. He began his new role on March 1. Eugene Leong has been appointed as Meatable’s new Head of Asia, based in Singapore. He has more than 25 years of business experience in flavors and food ingredients, most recently at McCormick and Cargill. Leong will join Meatable on May 5, helping to expand the company’s footprint in the Asian market. The …

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New Veganuary CEO Wendy Matthews

Wendy Matthews. Image: LinkedIn

Veganuary Announces New CEO & Campaign Achievements for 2025

Veganuary, the global campaign encouraging people to try a vegan diet in January, has announced that CEO Ria Rehberg is stepping down. On LinkedIn, Rehberg said she would be taking some time to rest and recharge. Wendy Matthews, Veganuary’s current Head of International Partnerships and Expansion, will take over as CEO from March 15. “While I’m grateful for this incredible progress, this moment is also bittersweet for me as it marks my final Veganuary as part of the organization,” said Rehberg. “After leading this campaign for six years and helping transform it from a primarily UK-based initiative to a truly global movement active in 20 countries worldwide, I’ve decided to step down and hand the reins to someone new. “Having worked alongside Wendy in our …

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Created by vegconomist

Female Leaders Shaping the Future of Vegan and FoodTech in 2025

The plant-based and food technology industries are undergoing a significant transformation, driven by innovation, sustainability, and ethical considerations. Women are at the forefront of this movement, leading innovative companies that are reshaping how we produce and consume food. In honor of International Women’s Day, we’re spotlighting some of the visionary female founders, CEOs, and leaders who are making a significant impact in plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-based food. While there are hundreds of incredible women driving meaningful change in this space, these are some of the leaders we’re especially excited to watch in 2025 as they take their companies and the industry to new heights. Deniz Ficicioglu – Co-Founder & CEO, BettaF!sh Deniz Ficicioglu is making her mark in the plant-based seafood space with BettaF!sh, a …

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Rami Jokela Solar Foods

Rami Jokela © Solar Foods

Rami Jokela Appointed CEO of Solar Foods as Company Targets Global Markets

Solar Foods has announced the appointment of Rami Jokela as its new chief executive officer, effective April 1, 2025. Jokela, who brings extensive experience in scaling international businesses, will lead the company as it moves from research and development into global commercialization. Jokela succeeds founding CEO Pasi Vainikka, who has led the company since its inception. Vainikka will continue in an advisory role through the end of 2025 to support the leadership transition and oversee ongoing strategic initiatives. Jokela’s immediate focus will be on expanding Solar Foods’ presence in the Health & Performance Nutrition segment, with an emphasis on the US market. He is also tasked with implementing a new conceptual sales model, increasing product price points, and scaling production capacity at one of the …

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© Noel Kinder

Ex-Nike Sustainability Head Joins UNCAGED Innovations to Advance Grain-Based Leather

UNCAGED Innovations, a biomaterials company developing grain-based leather alternatives, has announced the addition of Noel Kinder, Nike’s former Chief Sustainability Officer, to its Board of Directors. With more than two decades of experience at Nike in sustainability and operations, Kinder’s appointment signals UNCAGED’s growing focus on scaling its innovative materials and expanding its global footprint. UNCAGED Innovations is the developer of BioFuze, a technology that produces a sustainable, grain-based alternative to leather by replicating the molecular structure of collagen. The resulting material offers flexibility, strength, and texture similar to traditional leather but avoids the environmental impact associated with animal-derived materials. The company has set its sights on industries such as footwear, which consumes more than 50% of the world’s leather supply. Kinder, who served in …

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Bart Wolfert livekindly collective

© Bart Wolfert

LIVEKINDLY Collective Names Bart Wolfert as Global Head of Operations

LIVEKINDLY Collective (LKC), a global group of plant-based food brands, has announced Bart Wolfert as its new Global Head of Operations. In his role, Wolfert will oversee operations across LKC’s three manufacturing facilities located in Oss, the Netherlands; Stora Levene, Sweden; and Pinetown, South Africa, which support the company’s brands and B2B clients. Wolfert brings decades of operational expertise, including experience in managing multisite and large-scale plant operations across Europe and Africa. Most recently, he served as site lead for one of Danone Nutricia’s largest and most complex facilities in the Netherlands. Prior to that, he managed factory operations for Danone in West Africa while based in Ghana, and he has also held operational roles at FrieslandCampina. The appointment places Wolfert on the company’s leadership …

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Karin Ridgers receives Best Vegan PR Company award

Karin Ridgers receives the Best Vegan PR Company award from actor and friend Peter Egan. Image supplied.

MAD Promotions Founder Karin Ridgers Receives Viva! Best Vegan PR Business Award

Karin Ridgers, the founder of MAD Promotions, has received the Best Vegan PR Business Award at vegan charity Viva!’s 30th anniversary celebration. Karin is a longtime Viva! member who has dedicated her career to helping ethical businesses gain visibility through PR and media relations. She supported Veganuary’s initial campaign and has worked with numerous vegan SMEs and charities. Additionally, she presents and promotes VegfestUK, the UK’s longest-running vegan festival. “It is always about my clients – however, this is about me and our work at MAD Promotions and I am rather chuffed to bits, especially to win an award from an organisation like Viva! that has inspired me for 30 years,” said Ridgers. “It’s been an incredible journey helping to champion vegan businesses over the …

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Quorn mince

© Quorn Foods

Quorn CEO Steps Down, Ex MD of Heineken UK David Flochel is Appointed, Says “2025 Will Be a Reset Year for the Company”

Quorn Foods today announces that current CEO, Marco Bertacca, is stepping down after five years at the helm. From next month, David Flochel, former MD of Heineken UK, will join the business and take over leadership over the course of the coming months. Bertacca replaced long-standing CEO Kevin Brennan in January 2020, and during his tenure was faced with navigating the business through the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing inflation and cost-of-living crises, plus disruption within the plant-based industry. Turbulent waters The company has since weathered a dip in sales; substantial pre-tax losses; exited retail markets including the Benelux region, and in terms of mass media and public opinion appeared to have shouldered significant blame, receiving a torrent of rather fierce backlash from both press …

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A petri dish with plant ingredients

© Ayana Bio

Plant Cell Culture Company Ayana Bio Appoints Jill Zullo, Formerly of Cargill, to Board of Directors

Plant cell culture technology company Ayana Bio announces the appointment of Jill Zullo, PhD, described as “an experienced commercial leader with deep technical roots in biotechnology”, to the company’s Board of Directors. Zullo is the former president and CEO of NatureWorks and Global Managing Director Biointermediates at Cargill. According to the company, the appointment “further underscores the focus on establishing Ayana Bio as a leader in the plant cell culture space and assembling a board of directors with diverse backgrounds of expertise to guide the company to commercial success.” Ayana Bio uses plant cell cultivation to grow plant materials, with a focus on creating ingredients that leverage plant bioactives for health and wellness products. A spinoff from Boston’s Ginkgo Bioworks, Ayana recently partnered with Wooree …

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David Weiner, Cauldron Ferm's newly appointed CTO

David Weiner - Image courtesy of Cauldron Ferm

Cauldron Appoints Biotech Veteran to Spearhead Hyper-Fermentation Solution for Alternative Proteins

Contract manufacturer organization Cauldron Ferm announces the appointment of Solugen and BASF industry veteran David Weiner as new chief technology officer. Drawing on his extensive experience in product development and scaling innovative biotech solutions, Weiner will oversee the company’s technology R&D pipeline as the Australian company embarks on its next phase of global expansion. Cauldron, founded in 2022 in Borenore, New South Wales, has developed a precision fermentation technology that promises to reach price parity — or even cheaper — with current goods such as dairy, egg, and silk proteins and widely used petrochemicals. The company recently closed a Series A funding round of over $6.25 million with investors including SOSV, In-Q-Tel, Main Sequence, and Horizons Ventures. “David brings a distinguished career leading R&D programs that …

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Jukka Kajan of Plant Based Foods Finland

Jukka Kajan. © Plant Based Foods Finland

Plant Based Foods Finland Appoints First Executive Director to Strengthen Advocacy Efforts

Industry association Plant Based Foods Finland (Pro Vege in Finnish) has appointed its first executive director, Jukka Kajan. Previously, Kajan has worked as a food industry consultant and Public Affairs Manager at Raisio Group. Niklas Kaskeala, Chairman of the Board at Plant Based Foods Finland, says Kajan’s leadership will help to strengthen the association’s advocacy efforts. “We look forward to Nordic and European cooperation led by Jukka, who brings extensive knowledge of plant-based food value chains and is a well-connected and active advocate for food system transformation,” he says. In its first year, Plant Based Foods Finland has amassed 27 members, including all major retail chains in the country and participants from the restaurant sector, research institutions, and cellular agriculture. Kajan describes the number of …

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Heather Mills in blue suit

© Heather Mills

Heather Mills Acquires Alternative Stores to Create a Central Hub of ‘Hero’ Plant-Based Products in the UK

Heather Mills, owner and founder of VBites who was recently recognised as ‘Vegan Woman of the Year‘ at the 2024 Vegan Women’s Summit in Los Angeles, announces the acquisition of the award-winning online plant-based store Alternative Stores. This latest addition to Mills’ vegan portfolio aims to offer support to hundreds of family businesses and assist with the launch of their own brands, and follows last year’s acquisition of the Plant & Bean manufacturing facility in Boston, UK, which was facing administration. Alternative Stores lists a wide variety of notable plant-based brands including UK egg alternative producer Sinless Food; Naturli butter; LoveRaw confectionery; Violife cheese; Mummy Meegz chocolate and treats; and of course, VBites, in addition to other categories such as footwear, household, pet food, and …

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KoRo founders with Toni Petersson

LTR: KoRo founder Constantinos Calios, CEO Florian Schwenkert, Advisory Board member Toni Petersson and CFO Dr Daniel Kundt © KoRo Handels GmbH

Ex Oatly CEO Toni Petersson Joins KoRo Advisory Board to Lead Europe’s Better-for-You Snack Category

Toni Petersson, former CEO and current co-chairman of the Board of Directors of Oatly, is set to join the Advisory Board of Berlin-based better-for-you food brand KoRo, an online store offering non-perishable goods and superfoods in bulk, to lead the brand into its next phase of growth. Headed by CEO Florian Schwenkert and known for clean-label snacks, nut butters and breakfast products as well as functional foods, KoRo has enjoyed significant growth since its foundation in 2014. Despite a downward sales trend in German e-commerce, KoRo has recorded high growth rates and has been frequently ranked by the FT as one of the 1000 fastest-growing companies in Europe (148.9 % CAGR 2019 – 2022). KoRo says it has 1.7 million customers across Europe and around …

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Investment Climate Podcast: Rob Leclerc of AgFunder – How to Get Funded in 2024

In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode one can be found here, the second is here, and part three is here. Episode 04: AgFunder’s Rob Leclerc In this episode, Alex talks to Rob Leclerc, founding partner of AgFunder which has about $200 million in assets under management. Rob talks about how investors are looking into companies nowadays and their expectations. He also discussed …

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© Future of Foods

Future of Foods Podcast: Mark Warner, CEO of Liberation Labs

Alex Crisp, Host of Future of Foods Interviews, talks to Mark Warner CEO of Liberation Labs about building massive capacity for producing ‘hero’ proteins without using animals. Going forward much of our milk and eggs could come from precision fermentation facilities such as those being constructed by Liberation Labs. The Indiana-based biomanufacturing firm says that it “works with biotechnology’s visionaries to commercialize the bioproducts of the future – foods, materials, and yet to be discovered breakthroughs that will make all of our lives better.” Liberation Labs received $10 million from Agronomics this April for its previously announced commercial-scale biomanufacturing facility in the Midwest Industrial Park in Richmond, Indiana. The plant is due to be fully completed by the end of this year, explains Warner, who …

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Heather Mills at Vegan Women Summit

© Vegan Women Summit

“Woman of the Year” Heather Mills to Call for Plant Based Treaty at Bonn Climate Conference

Vegan entrepreneur and charity campaigner Heather Mills is set to appear at the Bonn Climate Conference in Germany this week to call for a global Plant Based Treaty. Advocates for the treaty will set up a food truck at the entrance to the conference, giving out 2000 free hotdogs donated by Mills and her plant-based food company, VBites. At the conference, Mills will urge world leaders to make policy changes such as shifting subsidies from animal agriculture to the plant-based sector. She will also meet the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to discuss a pathway to 100% plant-based catering at future climate conferences such as COP29. 18,000 people have already signed the Plant Based Treaty’s petition calling for all food served at …

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Investment Climate Podcast: Robert Boer of Blue Horizon – How to Get Funded in 2024

In this new podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovksy interviews investors about benchmarks for funding alt proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including leaders in alternative protein and cellular agriculture. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode one from last month can be found here. Episode 02: Blue Horizon’s Robert Boer In this episode, Alex talks to Robert Boer, director at Blue Horizon Corporation, a leading investment fund in alternative proteins. During the conversation, Robert shared the top mistakes founders make when approaching the fund and best practices for getting funded. Key …

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Israel's InnovoPro, a leading provider of chickpea protein solutions, has appointed Greg Belt as its new CEO.

Greg Belt, image supplied

InnovoPro Appoints Gregory Belt as CEO to Drive Expansion of Chickpea Proteins in F&B

InnovoPro, a leading provider of chickpea protein solutions, has announced the appointment of Gregory Belt as its new CEO. Based in the USA, Belt will spearhead the company’s strategic expansion into the food and beverage market. Belt has a proven track record and deep expertise in building new ventures and strategic planning for innovation-driven growth. His experience, gained from companies like AB InBev, has allowed him to gain commercial traction, particularly in the dynamic landscape of North America. With a ‘wealth of experience’ and a fresh perspective, Belt is poised to lead InnovoPro into its next phase of growth and expansion, focusing on clean-label products and natural emulsifiers. After seven years of leadership as co-founder and first CEO, Taly Nechushtan will transition to the role …

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Meatable sausages

© Meatable

Meat Industry Veteran Jeff Tripician of Perdue Appointed New CEO of Meatable, Former Tyson Foods CEO Joins Board

Meatable, the Dutch producer of cultivated pork meat, announces that, in preparation for US market expansion, CEO and co-founder Krijn de Nood has stepped down from the role and has been succeeded by Jeff (“Trip”) Tripician effective June 17. Concurrently, Dean Banks, former president and CEO of Tyson Foods, joins the Board of Directors. Krijn de Nood will continue to serve on the Board. Meatable is known for its cost-effective production platform using pluripotent stem cells, which it claims takes just four days to develop product “from cell to sausage”, making it the quickest cell-cultivating method in the world. “This process is 60 times faster than traditional pig farming and involves nothing more than pulling a single cell once from a pig without causing harm,” …

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Lorenz Wyss-CEO of the Bell Food Group

© Bell Food Group

Bell Food Group CEO Expects Cultivated Meat Burgers to Hit Swiss Restaurants in 3 Years

Lorenz Wyss, the outgoing CEO of the Swiss meat and convenience food giant Bell Food Group foresees that cultivated burgers will be available in Switzerland in three years. In an interview published on Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Wyss predicts that the products will be available first in restaurants rather than in supermarkets; but the burgers could initially contain only cultivated fat. “It is possible that at the beginning you will only cultivate individual ingredients for addition, such as fat,” he said. Investing in cultivated meat Bell Food Group, a leading meat processor selling meat, poultry, charcuterie, seafood, and convenience products, invested €2 million in the Dutch cultivated meat company Mosa Meat in 2018. At the time, the company announced that it would offer cultivated burgers for 10 francs by …

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