CEO Peter McGuinness Quitting Impossible Foods as Plant-Based Burgers Languish
Peter McGuinness has decided to quit as CEO of plant-based “meat” maker Impossible Foods after leading the company for nearly four years. He will remain on the board of directors while Impossible’s three-member executive leadership team shares the CEO responsibilities.
In a Jan. 30 announcement, the company said, “Under McGuinness’s leadership, the company outperformed the broader plant-based category … commanding the No. 2 position in terms of U.S. market share.” But that’s not saying much as No. 1 faux burger-maker Beyond Meat has been losing sales and increasing its losses for at least three years now.
More than $1 billion in investments reportedly have been poured into Impossible Foods in its approximate 15 years of existence. While Impossible Foods is private, it presumably has fared no better than public Beyond Meat.
Beyond Meat reported a $193 million loss on sales of $214 million through three quarters of 2025. Its stock neared $200 a share in July 2019; it closed on Jan. 30 at 76 cents.
“Impossible enters its next chapter poised for long-term value creation,”the company said, with it being led by Jason Gao, chief legal & operating officer; Meredith Madden, chief demand officer; and Robert Haas, chief supply officer.
Impossible’s portfolio includes plant-based chicken, beef and pork, with the Impossible Burger leading the pack. Earlier this month, Impossible announced a partnership with food-tech startup Equii to expand its portfolio with complementary grain-based products, including hamburger and hot dog buns.
Pat Brown, the biochemist who founded Impossible in 2009, hired McGuiness to replace him in early 2022. Before taking the Impossible job, McGuiness was the president of Chobani and was looking like heir apparent to founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya.
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.