Meatable appoints USA-based meat industry veteran Jeff Tripician as new CEO

Meatable has announced the appointment of Jeff ('Trip') Tripician as CEO, effective 17 June. Tripician succeeds current CEO and co-founder, Krijn de Nood, who will continue to serve on the Board of Directors.

Tripician, an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience in the organic and natural meat industry in the USA, will lead Meatable as it prioritizes US market expansion. This will come on the heels of Meatable’s planned commercial launch in Singapore later this year, which is critical for the company’s long-term strategy to offer cultivated meat in the broader Asian market.

“I am thrilled to welcome Trip to Meatable as he is incredibly well qualified to lead us into this very exciting and important phase of growth for the Company”, said Cees de Jong, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Meatable. “With our launch in Asia planned for the fall, the next critical part of Meatable’s growth strategy is to drive expansion into the USA, and we believe that Trip’s long and successful experience in the organic and natural meat industry will be invaluable in helping Meatable achieve those global commercialization and growth goals. We look forward to his immediate impact as we take Meatable to new heights in Asia, the USA and beyond.”

“I want to thank Krijn for establishing Meatable as the leader in cultivated pork and the innovator it is today," De Jong added. "Krijn has always agreed that at this stage of the company’s evolution, it is important for us to have a leader in the critical US market and relocating was not an option for him. However, I look forward to continuing to work with him and receive his valuable contributions as a member of the Board of Directors. We are exceedingly grateful for his continued leadership and guidance.”

Tripician most recently served as CEO of Grass Fed Foods and prior to that, as President of Perdue Premium Meat Company. He also brings extensive experience across the US meat market, with deep expertise in the US supply chain, marketing of sustainable meat products, fundraising and M&A.

“Meatable is a one-of-kind food tech innovator with patented technology that can produce real and delicious meat at unprecedented speed, allowing product to be produced at lower costs than any other player in the industry,” commented Tripician. “With global population growth stressing the world’s ability to meet accelerating demand for sustainable proteins, Meatable is positioned to lead the industry in a paradigm shift that will address key global issues including climate change, water use, soil quality, humane animal care, food security, and, importantly, consumer acceptance – delivering an affordable and remarkable eating experience that could change the world.

“Our global supply chain as it stands is not able to feed eight billion people without destroying the environment," Tripician continued. "Throughout history, technology has helped many industries evolve and solve significant challenges in transportation, medicine, communications and food. We expect cultivated meat to do the same, as an alternate solution to help feed a hungry world sustainably. The meat industry should be at the forefront of this initiative through innovation, and Meatable will play a major role in driving this meaningful change.”

“I am incredibly proud of the team and their accomplishments since I founded Meatable in 2018," said Krijn de Nood, current CEO & Co-founder. "We turned a vision and a dream into some of the most important and impressive technology in the cultivated food industry. Our insights and efforts led to a fundraise of a US$100 million from strategic investors, including more than any company in our industry last year. As a result, Meatable can now deliver tasty meat in only four days, well ahead of the rest of the market, and the company is on track to launch in Singapore this year before expanding to the USA. I am proud to be able to hand off leadership at Meatable to Trip with a strong foundation, with a promising future ready to take on the next phase of its growth journey.”

As part of its commitment to its US market entry, Meatable also announced the appointment of food and biotechnology veteran Dean Banks, former President & CEO of Tyson Foods, to its Board of Directors.

“Dean is an exceptional leader with a proven track record in successfully leading major food companies through every stage of their evolution," stated De Jong. "His experience in the food and technology industries and his deep understanding of the food supply chain will be invaluable to us as we develop and execute upon our growth plans.”

Banks is currently the CEO-Partner of Flagship Pioneering, a leading biotechnology company, and CEO of Indigo Ag, the leading carbon program for farmers and buyers. Previously, he was a member of the leadership team at X (an Alphabet company, formerly known as Google [X]), where he led moonshot projects across multiple industries including sustainable food. Throughout his career he has held numerous leadership and entrepreneurial roles across the food, agriculture, technology and life sciences industries.

“Meatable has enormous potential to disrupt the cultivated meat space with its unique approach to product development and commercialization,” said Banks. “I look forward to leveraging my expertise in food, technology, and biology to work with Jeff and the rest of the Board to help Meatable gear up for its launch in the USA”

Banks is the latest addition to Meatable’s highly experienced Board of Directors, which consists of seasoned food and technology executives with significant expertise in the Asian, US and European markets.