Checkerspot appoints John Krzywicki as new Chief Executive Officer

USA — Checkerspot, a biotechnology company focused on developing high-performance, sustainable materials and ingredients, has appointed John Krzywicki as its next CEO.

According to the company, the news follows a string of successful laboratory and commercial developments in food and nutrition, which Krzywicki helped lead.

Krzywicki previously oversaw the creation and growth of Spotlight, a division of Checkerspot that develops cooking fats and oils using platform technology.

He said, “The applications for Checkerspot’s market-ready technology, particularly within food and nutrition supply chains, are incredibly intriguing. Scott and the molecular foundry have decades of experience tailoring molecular solutions to some of our most challenging problems.”

“Our task moving forward is to implement those solutions at scale, working with both new and familiar partners to realise our technologies’ potential.”

In the future, the company will focus on developing and licensing microalgal strains that can produce high-impact fats, oils, and materials.

Krzywicki said they had significantly refined their model to focus on providing partners with specific solutions for their ingredient and material needs.

The market was asking for their solutions, and they were orienting their business to be hyper-efficient in providing them.

Scott Franklin, Founder and chief scientific officer of Checkerspot, said that the company’s initial mission was to identify the most promising applications to achieve rapid adoption and growth of its algal technologies.

With John’s support, they had accomplished that, aligning innovations from their molecular foundry with increasing customer awareness and demand.

He stated that John’s leadership brought renewed focus and strong market validation and affirmed that John was the right person at the right time.

Hershey’s new Chief Customer Officer

The appointment comes after the snacking giant Hershey appointed Tiffany Menyhart as Chief Customer Officer to lead the company’s Confection sales team by advancing the vision of becoming a leading snacking powerhouse.

The company stated that with 30 years of sales and CPG experience, including 15 years in confection, she was fit to lead.

Joining from Kraft Heinz, Menyhart has a proven record of driving profitable growth, creating transformational change and elevating relationships with retail partners.

Menyhart said, “For over two decades, I’ve admired Hershey’s best-in-class commercial team and its pioneering leadership in category excellence. I’m excited to return to confection, represent iconic brands with a talented team and lead category growth while delivering exceptional experiences for our customers and consumers.”

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