Welcoming Peter McGuinness

I founded Impossible Foods, almost 11 years ago, with a simple, outrageously ambitious but achievable mission: to reverse the collapse of global biodiversity and turn back the clock on climate change by inventing and scaling a new technology platform to replace the world’s most destructive technology — the use of animals for food production — by 2035.

From the start, Impossible has been, at its heart, a discovery and innovation company.  We knew that if we could discover how to outperform the prehistoric animal-based technology in creating the world’s most delicious, healthy and affordable meat and seafood products, consumer choice in the marketplace would take care of the rest. 

For the first five years of our existence, Impossible was essentially a team of creative scientists doing the fundamental research that enabled us to crack the molecular code for meat and recreate it using only ingredients from plants or fermentation.

In 2016, that R&D team gave birth to a business that has since been growing exponentially, with a rapidly expanding range of products sold in more than 40,000 restaurants across three continents — and more recently, 25,000 supermarkets — resulting in hundreds of million dollars in annual revenue and 85% growth in quarterly retail revenue at the end of 2021. We launched a record number of new products last year, including Impossible Chicken Nuggets(opens in a new tab), Impossible Pork(opens in a new tab), Impossible Sausage(opens in a new tab), and Impossible Meatballs(opens in a new tab), as well as started to expand globally. More importantly, we have crossed a historic tipping point: launching the first plant-based meat products that are actually preferred for their taste(opens in a new tab) over the leading animal-derived counterparts by mainstream meat consumers. All of this is made possible by our continuing investment  in research and innovation. 

As Impossible’s 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; to communicate our mission to the public and policy-makers; and most importantly, to guide the research and technology innovation that continues to power our long-term success. Given the momentum of our business, our accelerating product pipeline, ongoing international expansion and the magnitude of our mission, the leadership demands of the commercial business will inevitably continue to grow.

I am therefore happy to announce that industry veteran Peter McGuinness will be joining Impossible as CEO starting April 4 to help us continue to expand, evolve and grow our brand and business. Peter brings 30 years of consumer expertise, most recently as president and COO of Chobani, where he scaled operations, built a modern brand and drove business growth. Over the last eight years, Peter helped drive Chobani’s mission, build its values, and expand the brand into new product categories, including plant-based probiotic drinks, oat milks, coffees and more. 

Peter and I will work together to lead Impossible and its long-term strategy, combining our complimentary strengths and experience. Peter will be our CEO and a director, and will report to the board. I will continue in my role as Founder and director, and take on the role of Chief Visionary Officer reporting to the board, leading research and technology innovation, strategic initiatives, public advocacy and, most importantly, our mission. 

Having now spent many hours in conversation with Peter, I and the rest of the Impossible leadership team and our board of directors are excited and confident that he is the right person for this role. He’s committed to our mission, he loves our brand and products, he shares our values, and he’s a proven leader with years of experience leading an innovative and rapidly growing food brand.

 Welcome to Impossible, Peter!