The Meat Institute has hired meat and protein industry veteran Nicole Johnson-Hoffman to be its new chief operating officer, replacing COO and general counsel Mark Dopp, who will retire in March 2025.
Johnson-Hoffman joins the Meat Institute with a long history in the animal and alternative proteins businesses. Most recently, she was named to the board of directors for Meati Foods back in August 2023, and had been CEO of cultivated meats company Believer Meats prior to that.
Her path prior to that included roles as senior vice president and chief sustainability officer for OSI Group and president of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef for two years. She also led Cargill Value Added Meats division as its vice president for several years and worked for Cargill for a total of 19 years.
Meat Institute president and CEO Julie Anna Potts said, “Nicole Johnson-Hoffman brings a wide breadth of experience in the regulatory, legal, and sustainability fields of the animal protein industry. Her various roles have prepared her well to oversee operations at the Meat Institute at a critical time for the industry and during a time of great change and innovation.”
