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Diving overview:
- Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness is leaving the plant-based meat manufacturer after four years at the helm.
- The business will now be run by Impossible’s three-member executive leadership team, including Chief Legal Officer Jason Gao, Chief Demand Officer Meredith Madden, and Chief Supply Officer Rober Hass.
- McGuinness, who joined Impossible after nine years at Chobani, will remain on the company’s board of directors. Impossible said McGuinness’s efforts to promote the brand to flexitarians helped the company outperform the broader plant-based category.
Dive Insights:
McGuinness oversaw Impossible’s efforts to reframe the narrative around alternative meats, bringing more meat eaters to the sluggish plant-based sector.
Spokesperson McGuinness previously said the sector had made “mistakes” in positioning plant-based products as climate solutions, adding that the industry had been “mis-sold and mis-launched”.
At Impossible, he overhauled the company’s brand identity to better demonstrate that plant-based meat can taste just as good as real meat and provide the same nutritional value. The company also recently partnered with food technology startup Equii to expand its innovation portfolio to include high-protein, grain-based products that complement Impossible’s plant-based burgers and hot dogs.
“Impossible is ready to further strengthen its position in the market as a respected food company built for long-term success,” Fedele Bauccio, a longtime member of Impossible’s board of directors, said in a statement. “We are grateful for Peter’s influential leadership as CEO, which has helped position Impossible as one of the strongest companies in its field.”
For the fiscal year ending April 20, 2025, retail sales of plant-based meat in the United States fell 7.5%, with sales down 10%, according to SPINS data shared with AgFunderNews. Plant-based burgers showed the biggest decline at 26%.
Despite some promise for the plant-based sector, high prices and consumer awareness of processed ingredients have hit demand and forced retailers to limit product offerings. As demand for protein soars, more consumers are flocking back to meat.
Plant-based brands are responding by flexing their muscles as protein suppliers and branching out into adjacent categories. Beyond Meat, which was struggling to pay off debt, recently launched a sparkling protein drink to reach new consumers.
