AUSTRALIA – V2Food, an Australian producer of plant-based meat substitutes, has appointed Tim York to succeed former CEO and co-founder, Nick Hazell who founded the company in 2019.
York has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Queensland and a master’s degree in Business Administration from The Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM).
He joined the company in 2021 and as Chief operating officer, a position he has held until his recent promotion to Chief Executive officer.
York has previously worked in several companies such as J.L Lennard where he held the position of Group General manager. He has also served as the CEO of Rite Bite, RJ Licorice and Darrell Lea Confectionery company.
The company intends to leverage his expertise and longevity in the field and administrative positions to “continue to drive the growth and success of the organisation”.
His predecessor Hazell set up V2Food with investments from Jack Cowin, owner of the Australian Burger King franchise Hungry Jack’s, and Main Sequence Ventures, an arm of Australia’s national science agency CSIRO.
Since its founding V2Food has raised more than AUD180 million (US$123.78M) in funds making it the most funded alternative protein company in Australia.
Ten months after its last raise, V2food greatly expanded its market presence, launching two new products, v2sausages and v2sauce, and announced its first restaurant partnership with critically-acclaimed Australian chef and restaurateur Neil Perry.
The company has since grown to supply retail and food service accounts such as Hungry Jack’s, Woolworths, and Coles.
Hazell, a former R&D director at Mars and PepsiCo, said in a statement, “The last four years, founding and leading V2Food, have been some of the most worthwhile and exciting years of my life.”
He thanked his former partners, CSIRO and UTS, as well as the investors, saying that he is assured that V2Food is in capable hands.
“And most of all I want to thank the amazing team I led at V2Food who I know will continue to do everything they can to grow an amazing Australian company that can feed the world’s insatiable hunger for meat but make it sustainably from plants.”
The company also recently closed a factory two years after launching it in the New South Wales city of Wodonga, according to ABC, an Australian media group.
According to Andrew May, chief growth officer at V2Food, the factory’s main objective was to make specific ingredients which can now be made in the company’s other sites.
“Overall, whilst it’s sad to close any facility, this shift will strengthen our position and allow us to respond to opportunities in the future as the alt-protein landscape continues to evolve at speed,” May said to ABC.
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