Meati Foods shuffles C-suite amid layoffs

Dive Brief:

• Recently appointed CFO of Meati Foods is now taking the helm of the business as chief executive officer. 
• Phil Graves is focused on building a financially sustainable business, while co-founder Tyler Huggins is moving to the role of chief product and brand officer where he will oversee the brand’s roll out of more of its MushroomRoot products in 2024. 
• As a new CEO takes the helm, Meati is laying off 13% of its workforce. “While these types of changes always present a challenge for growth companies, they are essential for aligning resources with profitability objectives,” said Graves in a statement sent to Food Dive.

Dive Insight:

Meati Foods started the new year strong with plans to expand its retail footprint to 10,000 stores nationwide. The Colorado-based company continues to scale its business while conserving cash. Along with the shuffling of its c-suite, the company is reportedly cutting 13% of its workforce.  

“The fundraising market has signaled that we need to accelerate our path to profitability and better position MushroomRoot as the revolutionary, category-creating protein that it is,” said a company spokesperson in a statement to Food Dive.

Last month, 6,656 layoffs were announced in the food industry, according to data from Challenger, Grey & Christmas Inc. It’s the highest monthly total layoffs for the sector since November 2012.

Further, this isn’t the first time Meati has slashed workers to focus on profitability. Last September, the company cut 10% of its workforce. 

Meati said that the decision to enact layoffs follows “precedents set by other leading companies navigating transformative market shifts.” 

The plant based and alternative protein space have been hard hit in recent months with consumer interest in the products waning. Beyond Meat slashed its workforce in November of last year to “drive more sustainable growth,” as its business model was under fire.

Meati did not disclose how many jobs were being affected this time around, nor the details of severance packages and the company does not expect any supply chain disruptions as a result of the job cuts, according to the Meati spokesperson. 

“These changes allow us to better serve our customers and pave the way for long-term, sustainable growth. Our future is bright,” said Graves.

Although the reduction in its workforce is to make Meati profitable, the business did not appear to be in a tough spot financially. The company’s Mega Ranch was able to scale production last year and its products are in over 3,600 locations nationwide, including Whole Foods Market, Meijer, Cub Foods and Sprouts Farmers Markets. 

Over recent months, the company has also gained attention from celebrities. Gymnast Aly Raisman and NBA star Chris Paul joined Derek Jeter and Rachael Ray in December 2023 as investors.