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How does a plant-based brand owned by one of the biggest meatpackers in the world operate? Darcey Macken, CEO of JBS subsidiary Planterra, joins The Food Institute Podcast to discuss the plant-based brand’s unique position, consumer trends that sparked the development of its new plant-based chicken and bacon products, and the prospects for growth in both frozen and fresh channels.
“Consumers should have an exceptional variety when it comes to protein.”
– Darcey Macken
More about Planterra:
At Planterra Foods, we believe our planet is filled with delicious ideas. We aspire to change the future of protein by giving people more flavorful, plant-based choices. Our goal is to delight people from vegans to flexitarians to meat-eaters by giving them more delicious plant-based protein choices, like our first brand OZO. Everyone here simply loves food and believes healthy and sustainable plant-based goodness should never sacrifice taste or simple ingredients.
We are proud to be a Colorado-based company full of passionate and positive impact makers. At every level, we’re reimagining all the ways that we bring delicious, sustainable foods to the world. We know we can help the planet and feed the world by putting delicious meals on the table — today and for generations to come. To feed future generations, we’re working hard to reimagine our entire ecosystem, from plants to proteins and from sourcing to sustainability.
Across our teams, we seek the highest-quality partners who share our values for mutual success and sustainable living. Together, we’re working with the current and next generation of farmers to reimagine the positive impact of crop selection, soil quality, and conservation. It’s our belief that simple, plant-based proteins should be approachable, accessible, and available to everyone. Eating delicious food is one of the greatest joys in life, and our OZO brand is just the beginning of an OZO Good world.
More about Darcey Macken:
Darcey Macken established rising Colorado-based start-up Planterra Foods in October 2019. Bringing more than 15 years of food industry experience to her role as Chief Executive Officer, Darcey is passionate about providing healthy, sustainable food for consumers while creating change to improve the planet and feed future generations.
Her focus on delicious, high quality food and entrepreneurial spirit took off when she started at noosa yoghurt (Bellvue, Colo.) in 2015. There she spent five years, first as the Chief Customer Officer, helping to triple the business and eventually becoming CEO/General Manager in 2018 as the company was acquired by Sovos Brands. Prior to her time at noosa and in Colorado, Darcey had a strong decade tenure with Kellogg Company (Battle Creek, Mich). Her more recent position was Senior Vice President, Global Sales, leading capabilities and sales of more than $15 billion, which came after her role of President, U.S. Sales accountable for leading Kellogg’s largest sales force. In addition, Darcey worked in sales roles at Warner Home Video and Newell Rubbermaid.
A graduate of Mercer University (Macon, GA), Darcey earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing and went on to complete the Executive Leadership program at Harvard Business School. She is currently a Board Member, volunteer coach, and is active with the Special Olympics. Darcey and her husband reside outside of Boulder, CO with their two boys.
Learn More about Planterra:
https://planterrafoods.com/
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