Dr. Pat Brown, founder of Impossible Foods, has relinquished his position as CEO and will continue as a Director of the Company and serving as the Chief Visionary Officer, responsible for research, innovation and public advocacy. Dr. Brown will be succeeded by Peter McGuiness, who is currently President and COO of Chobani.

Previous to founding Impossible Foods, Dr. Brown enjoyed a distinguished academic career as a physician and research scientist. In commenting on his decision he stated, “As the Impossible Foods business has grown in size, scale and complexity, the demands of that business have increasingly encroached on the time I have available to lead strategic initiatives.”  He added, “Leadership demands of the commercial business will inevitably continue to grow.”

The change in management comes at a time of challenge for vegetable-based meat alternatives.  There is a clear indication of a slowing in domestic U.S. growth requiring manufacturers to seek alternative markets and take advantage of what may be regarded as ‘low-hanging fruit’ in New Zealand, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. 

Reports from public-quoted companies, including Maple Leaf Foods and Beyond Meat, confirm consistent losses and an inability to achieve positive returns despite increases in volume. Reported low gross margins suggest that manufacturers of plant-based alternatives to meat are not achieving economies of scale. Quarterly releases also indicate heavy expenditure on price promotion to stimulate demand. This is the situation with Beyond Meat that is focused towards the retail market in comparison to Impossible Foods that has established supply relationships with QSRs and institutions.