Prepared Foods covers the growing, dynamic protein ingredient market with Stephanie Lind, founder and chief strategy officer at Elohi Strategic Advisors (ESA). Stephanie founded ESA in 2015 and maybe best known for leading the global sales initiatives for Impossible Foods during its 2018 break-out year. She also spent more than 20 years working for food and beverage companies -- large and small, private and public -- including PepsiCo, Sysco, and Kerry. Her cross-functional experience in sales, marketing and supply chain; coupled with her cross-channel experience in retail, foodservice and ingredient (industrial) channels give her a unique perspective on the food industry.

Today, ESA provides expert support, strategic guidance and on-the-ground execution with a team of more than 40 professionals in sales, marketing, insights, culinary, product development and supply chain. In particular, Stephanie’s background at Impossible Foods gives her a perspective that encompasses all protein sources—including plant-, animal, insect and cell-based proteins. She also is a keen observer of new developments involving novel new protein technologies.

In this exclusive podcast, Editor Bob Garrison talks with Lind about the protein ingredients that grew most in 2023—as well as what’s next in 2024. This wide-ranging discussion covers plant-based proteins (including duckweed), mycelial (fungal) proteins, algal proteins and newer cell-based/cultured proteins. Speaking of technology, Lind also discusses how precision fermentation is changing the entire protein landscape. Lind also shares advice for food and beverage formulators making protein ingredient decisions.