Ex-Cargill, OSI Exec Replaced as CEO of Cultured Meat Developer Believer Meats

March 15, 2023

Gustavo Burger, formerly of AB-InBev and Kraft Heinz, promoted to Chief Executive Officer.

Thirteen months ago, Israeli cultured meat developer Believer Meats trumpeted the hiring of a former OSI and Cargill executive as CEO. Now she’s gone and the company COO takes over as chief executive officer, effectively immediately.

Gustavo Burger (great name, eh?) succeeds Nicole Johnson-Hoffman, “who has moved on from the company to pursue other career opportunities.” In February of 2021, she replaced Rom Kshuk as the company moved from the research phase to the start of commercial-scale production of cultured meats.

The company hasn’t specified what will be its first commercial product. It appears capable of chicken, beef and lamb.

Late last year, Believer Meats – formerly known as Future Meat Technologies -- broke ground on its first U.S. commercial facility, in Wilson County, N.C. The Israeli company claims the 200,000-sq.-ft. facility will be the largest cultivated meat production center in the world and carries a planned investment of $123 million.

Kash Muthuraman, VP of operations, succeeds Burger as chief operating officer.

Burger formerly worked at BRF, Anheuser-Busch InBev and, most recently, Kraft Heinz Co., where he served as chief supply officer for international operations across LATAM, APAC and Europe.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.