Nicole Johnson-Hoffman has been appointed as chief executive officer and board member of Future Meat Technologies, a Rehovot, Israel-headquartered company engaged in industrial science research, development and applications in the cultivated meat sector. She brings to the job more than 25 years of experience across the agriculture, food manufacturing, foodservice, and meat production industries.
Positioned as the first cultivated meat company to break the commercial viability cost barrier, Future Meat has created lines of animal cells that grow forever without genetic modifications, thus removing the need to harvest animals. It believes that the production of cultivated chicken, lamb, beef and pork with numerous environmental, health, and ethical benefits is poised to radically transform the global production of meat. Cultivated meat requires less land and water to produce and doesn’t use antibiotics.
In embracing her new role as day-to-day leader of Future Meat, Johnson-Hoffman commented: “Not only has the company made meaningful progress in developing the technology to achieve widespread adoption, but it is driven by a desire to support the entire meat industry’s shift to more sustainable practices – a cause I have championed throughout my career. I’m pleased to join at this pivotal moment as we prepare to commence cultivated meat production in the United States.”
Future Meat opened the world’s first cultivated meat production line in Israel earlier this year and is now scouting several locations in America for a planned large-scale production facility.
Johnson-Hoffman was previously based in Munich, Germany, where she was managing director for further processed foods operations at OSI Europe. OSI is one of the world’s largest privately held food manufacturers, with 57 facilities in 18 countries. She jointly served as senior vice president, leading the company’s global operations for McDonald’s Restaurants, and as OSI’s chief sustainability officer, responsible for setting the strategic direction for OSI’s global approach to sustainability and corporate responsibility.
Prior to joining OSI, Johnson-Hoffman spent 19 years at Cargill Incorporated, where she practiced law as in-house counsel and served in various leadership roles from financial services to beef plant operations in the United States and Asia. From 2010-13 she was the general manager of Cargill’s Fort Morgan, Colorado beef processing plant, one of the largest in the world.
Johnson-Hoffman was the founding chairperson of the US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, serving two terms as the pending five years on its executive committee.
