Plant-Based: Plants At The Center Of The Plate

Andrew Arentowicz is the CEO of 50/50 Foods, Inc., a pioneering food company dedicated serving the large and growing population of flexitarians (72 million and counting) by crafting a new category of “balanced protein” meat products that are both healthy and delicious. 50/50 Foods’ flagship product, the BOTH Burger, is the first and only USDA approved 50/50 burger on the market today (a delicious blend of 50% real beef and 50% real veggies). Andrew leads the team in charge of culinary innovation, supply chain management, government affairs, manufacturing, logistics, marketing, and sales. Andrew earned is BS from Cornell University, and his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

As Vice President of Strategy & Activation, Barbara Connors is an innovative problem solver and strategic brand-builder. She is responsible for long-range product planning and strategy for our full portfolio of retail media, insights and incentive solutions. Barbara brings customer-centric thought leadership to the industry and supports accelerated alignment between Kroger and our 1000+ clients.
With 17 years of consumer data science experience, she has held several leadership positions associated with both Kroger and CPGs. Her roles include work in merchandising analytics, data insights, loyalty, and media.
As a graduate of the University of Georgia’s Terry School of Business, she earned a master’s degree in marketing research. Barbara was honored by Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of Top Women in Grocery among Senior Executives. In 2023, the Path to Purchase Institute recognized her with their 40 Under 40 award.

Tara is a marketing leader with over 25 years of experience in both the food ingredient and consumer-packaged goods sectors. She has a strong track record of strategy development and building brands by double digits. Tara thrives on creating insightful marketing content that educates and informs customers about brand and product benefits, through a deep understanding of customer needs, market trends and the competitive landscape. Energetic, creative and results-oriented, Tara has a deep passion for all things marketing, with a special interest in natural products.

Ethan Brown is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Beyond Meat, a company dedicated to building meat directly from plants. Ethan gained an appreciation for agriculture and the natural world from his father, a professor, conservationist, and hobby farmer. This interest shaped the direction of his career, where he sought to make a contribution to climate change through the clean energy sector. His early work centered on electricity restructuring in support of an open grid, where his analysis at the gubernatorial level directly informed federal and state policies on grid management. Subsequently, Ethan joined the world’s leading Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell developer Ballard Power Systems, rising to report directly to the Company’s Chief Executive Officer.

Though passionate about clean energy, Ethan returned often to the role of livestock in our economy and became convinced that a change in the origin of the protein—from animals to plants—that we place at the center of our plates could simultaneously address human health, climate, natural resource, and animal welfare challenges in a unique and powerful way. In 2009, Ethan founded Beyond Meat. The Company’s flagship product, the Beyond Burger, revolutionized the meat aisle by being the first plant-based burger to be sold in the meat case alongside beef at major grocery chains including Kroger, Walmart, and Whole Foods Market. In an effort to further democratize plant-based meat, Beyond Meat has partnered with leading restaurant chains including McDonald’s across Europe.

As part of the company’s efforts to advance human health, Beyond Meat has partnered with the Stanford University School of Medicine and established an agreement with the American Cancer Society to support research on the health and nutritional benefits of plant-based meat. Furthermore, the company has a growing portfolio of products that have been recognized for their strong nutritional credentials by the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check Certification program and the American Diabetes Association’s Better Choices for Life program.

Beyond Meat is routinely recognized for its brand affinity and leadership position including being named among TIME's World’s Best Brands 2024, Fortune’s Change the World 2024 honorees, The Independent’s Climate 100 for 2024, Newsweek’s Most Trusted Brands in 2023, and a United Nations 2018 Champion of the Earth.

Ethan holds an MBA from Columbia University and an MPP from the University of Maryland. He is on the board of the American Cancer Society’s CEO’s Against Cancer (LA Chapter) to support their mission to end cancer and address cancer disparities across Los Angeles as well as a member of the 2017 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.

Deniz Ataman is the deputy editor for FoodNavigator-USA where she reports on the food and beverage industry through an ingredient, policy and business lens. Previously, she served as the managing editor for the trade publication Perfumer & Flavorist Magazine where she led the brand's digital and print editorial, including the launch of Two Sense, an audio and video series featuring interviews with perfumers, flavorists, suppliers and industry experts on the business, science and art of flavor and fragrance development. She also served as conference director for the magazine's two events, Flavorcon and World Perfumery Congress in both the US and Europe. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Psychology