Impossible Foods Hires Biotech Executive and Startup Founder Brian Miller as Chief People Officer

• Miller joins the executive team of Impossible Foods after 10 years at Gilead Sciences
• Reporting to Impossible Foods’ President Dennis Woodside, Miller will oversee human resources, recruiting, leadership and development, and other strategic people initiatives to support the food tech startup’s rapid growth
• Miller is the latest senior executive to join the food startup’s growing team

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Impossible Foods has hired biotech executive Brian Miller as Chief People Officer.

Miller began yesterday and reports directly to Impossible Foods’ President Dennis Woodside. Among his many responsibilities, Miller will oversee recruiting, development and retention as the food tech startup embarks on one of the most audacious ramp-ups in the food sector.

Brian joins Impossible Foods after a decade at Foster City-based biotechnology company Gilead Sciences, where he served in numerous leadership roles, most recently Vice President for Talent, Development & Inclusion. Before that, he worked for Amgen, where he was the Global Head and Director Learning & Development. He was previously Founder and CEO of E3-Services, a consulting firm specializing in how to integrate digital strategies into human resources departments.

“Brian has a long track record of helping ambitious, mission-driven companies scale up quickly while keeping employees highly motivated,” Woodside said. “In addition to his experience at some of the world’s biotech pioneers, Brian also has put in the hard work of being a founder and CEO. We’re confident that he has the stamina and ambition to help Impossible Foods as we enter ‘hypergrowth’ mode.”

Miller is a California native with a master’s degree in education from Harvard University. He received his undergraduate degree from University of the Pacific.

Impossible Foods: Hypergrowth Starts Now

Miller is the latest executive to join Impossible Foods, Inc. Magazine’s company of the year and one of Time Magazine’s 50 Genius companies. Recent executive hires include:

• Jessie Becker, SVP of Marketing
• Dan Greene, SVP of US Sales
• Sheetal Shah, SVP of Product and Operations
• Ravi Thakkar, VP of Product Management

The company’s flagship product, Impossible™ Burger, debuted at Chef David Chang’s Momofuku Nishi in Manhattan in 2016 and is now served in more than 17,000 restaurants in the United States and Asia. Impossible Burger also launched in about 150 grocery stores last year and will accelerate its retail launch throughout 2020 and beyond.

Just last month, Impossible Foods announced its first all-new products since the 2016 launch of the Impossible Burger: Impossible™ Pork Made from Plants and Impossible™ Sausage Made from Plants.

Impossible Pork is a delicious, nutritious, gluten-free, plant-based ground meat that can be used in any recipe that calls for ground pork from pigs. Impossible Pork is delicious in any ground meat dish, including spring rolls, stuffed vegetables, dumplings, wontons or sausage links.

Impossible Sausage is a juicy, savory plant-based meat that pairs perfectly with traditional breakfast accompaniments or steals the show as a center-of-the-plate delicacy at any meal. Impossible Sausage is rolling out at Burger King® restaurants in five test regions: Savannah, Georgia; Lansing, Michigan; Springfield, Illinois; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Montgomery, Alabama.

Big taste, small footprint

Based in Redwood City, Calif., Impossible Foods uses modern science and technology to create delicious food, restore natural ecosystems and feed a growing population sustainably. The company makes meat from plants -- with a much smaller environmental footprint than meat from animals.

To satisfy the global demand for meat at a fraction of the environmental impact, Impossible Foods developed a far more sustainable, scalable and affordable way to make meat, without the catastrophic environmental impact of livestock.

Shortly after its founding in 2011, Impossible Foods’ scientists discovered that one molecule — “heme” — is primarily responsible for the explosion of flavors that result when meat is cooked. Impossible Foods’ scientists genetically engineer and ferment yeast to produce a heme protein naturally found in plants, called soy leghemoglobin.

The heme in Impossible products is identical to the essential heme humans have been consuming for hundreds of thousands of years in meat — and while Impossible products deliver all the craveable depth of animal meats, the plant-based innovations require far fewer resources because they’re made from plants.

About Impossible Foods:

Based in California’s Silicon Valley, Impossible Foods makes delicious, nutritious meat and dairy products from plants — with a much smaller environmental footprint than meat from animals. The privately held company was founded in 2011 by Patrick O. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry at Stanford University and a former Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Investors include Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, Google Ventures, Horizons Ventures, UBS, Viking Global Investors, Temasek, Sailing Capital, and Open Philanthropy Project.

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