Pat Brown Switches Roles Again To Lead Impossible Labs
Impossible Foods founder and chief visionary officer Pat Brown is leaving the c-suite to lead the company’s new research arm, tentatively dubbed Impossible Labs. This will be Brown’s second title change this year and comes less than six months since former Chobani COO Peter McGuinness took over his previous role as CEO.
The news broke via leaked email yesterday, viewed by Business Insider, stating this was a planned leadership change. The email also noted that Impossible’s R&D team will continue to operate as is alongside the new venture and that its R&D executives will now report to McGuinness.
Impossible Labs’ role will be “to focus on the transformative innovation that will propel Impossible Foods to achieve our mission,” according to the email. Brown has previously stated that the development of Impossible’s technology will be key to its long term success.
Prior to starting the plant-based meat giant, Brown was a medical researcher and professor of biochemistry at Stanford University. He voiced his desire to have more of a hand in the company’s development through tech and innovation rather than business plans and marketing initiatives when he stepped out of his CEO role earlier this year and said, via blog post, that the size and scale of the company had “encroached” on the time he had for strategic initiatives. In that post, Brown named the development of the research and technology behind Impossible as the most important aspect of those initiatives.
While Brown continues to develop that technology, Impossible is also working hard to protect it. Earlier this year the company began a legal dispute with fellow alt-meat maker, Motif Foodworks claiming the company infringed on Impossible’s patents by introducing a heme protein into its plant-based meat.
Although heme is a naturally occurring protein in animal-based products, Impossible claims that it holds the intellectual property for plant-based heme used to replicate the taste and texture of traditional meat. That case is currently under a stay order as the U.S. Trade and Patent Office reviews the breadth of Impossible’s IP; however, depending on where it lands, the suit could result in the removal of Impossible’s patents or give them claim to the plant-based heme protein industry. Experts believe the latter outcome is unlikely.
As for its new venture, Impossible Labs will also face instant competition. Two research firms of the same name already exist, both focused on climate change mitigation technologies with one operating under the name Impossible Labs and the other, under the tag Not Impossible Labs.
The news also comes amid a slew of shake ups to Impossible’s leadership team including the departure of Steve Turner, who served as chief experience officer, and John York, who was chief science officer. The company has reportedly seen eight executives depart since McGuinness assumed the role of CEO. The leaked email also noted that Impossible is looking for a candidate to fill the chief science officer role.
A spokesperson for Impossible declined to comment on the news.
