Two veteran Tyson execs join Beyond Meat

Doug Ramsey and Bernie Adcock, who put in a combined 61 years at Tyson Foods, have left the company to take executive positions at Beyond Meat. Beyond Meat is aggressively trying to scale its operations and commercialization in the U.S., European Union and China.

Ramsey most recently led Tyson Foods’ troubled chicken business as president of that business unit from 2017 until May when he took over the leadership of McDonald’s international business at Tyson Foods. He is joining Beyond Meat as its chief operating officer. Adcock logged about 30 years at Tyson Foods working his way up to integrated supply chain officer. He is taking a newly created role at Beyond Meat as the company’s first chief supply chain officer.

“After a long and careful search, I could not be more thrilled to announce the arrival of Doug Ramsey and Bernie Adcock at Beyond Meat. Doug and Bernie bring a proven track record of impressive operational excellence in the protein industry that our global partners, customers, and consumers expect and deserve,” said Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat. “As we’ve made clear, we are investing today in tomorrow’s growth, whether by adding to our best-in-class management team or by building out operations around the world, to advance our vision of being the global protein company of the future.”

The former Tyson Foods execs are expected to be instrumental in the company’s attempt to grow operations, expand supply chain and manufacturing capacity and unlock cost savings.

“Beyond Meat is the gold standard in the plant-based meat industry and I am proud to join in its mission to produce delicious products that are healthier for our customers and more sustainable for our planet,” Ramsey said. “I’m thrilled to be a part of a company that is constantly innovating and delivering high-quality products to some of the world’s most prominent foodservice and retail customers.”

Beyond Meat has announced partnerships with McDonald’s, Yum! Brands and has a joint venture with PepsiCo to develop, make and market snack and beverage products using plant-based protein. The company was founded in 2009 and had revenue of $406.8 million last year.

Tyson Foods was an early investor in California-based Beyond Meat through its investment arm Tyson Ventures. But the company divested its interest more than two years ago as it began to create and market its own alternative meat protein products in-house.