REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–Impossible Foods has hired creative veteran Sasha Markova as the company’s first Executive Creative Director.
Markova will lead Impossible Foods’ in-house creative team, which will manage all visual messaging across the brand’s channels.
“Impossible Foods is a new paradigm brand and requires a different way of storytelling,” Markova said. “The sense of mission that exists at Impossible Foods is powerful and intoxicating. I’m thrilled to be leading the charge in uncovering the most brilliant and contagious ways of communicating that.”
Previously, Markova was Global Creative Director at Mother London and Mother LA from 2009-2017. During her tenure at Mother, she oversaw efforts for clients such as Stella Artois and Boots, and built a foundation for its first-class brand reputation and international acclaim alongside founders Mark Waites and Robert Saville.
After relocating to Los Angeles in 2015, the London native pioneered Mother’s expansion to the West Coast, earning the prestigious accounts of Headspace and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences under her creative direction.
IMPOSSIBLE FOODS: CULTIVATING A CREATIVE POWERHOUSE
Markova will join forces with a world-class in-house team. She will work in tandem with Creative Director Giselle Guerrero, bringing her expertise in compelling storytelling to the growing startup.
Markova is the latest hire to join the expanding senior team at Impossible Foods.
In September 2017, Marcella Butler became Impossible Foods’ first Chief People Officer, reporting directly to Impossible Foods CEO and Founder Dr. Patrick O. Brown. Dr. David J. Lipman, M.D., joined the company in June 2017 in the newly created role of Chief Science Officer, reporting directly to the CEO. Food industry veteran Chris Gregg took over as Senior Vice President of Supply Chain and Manufacturing in May 2017, overseeing operations for manufacturing and supply chain.
BIG TASTE, SMALL FOOTPRINT
In development since 2011, the Impossible Burger cooks, tastes, and smells like ground beef from cows — but is made entirely from plants. Launched in 2016 in a handful of top restaurants in New York and California, the Impossible Burger is now available in more than 700 restaurants from Hawaii to Maine. Click here for a full list of restaurants serving the Impossible Burger.
The Impossible Burger is produced without hormones, antibiotics, cholesterol or artificial flavors. It uses about 75% less water, generates about 87% fewer greenhouse gases, and requires around 95% less land than conventional ground beef from cows.
The Impossible Burger is made from simple ingredients, including water, wheat protein, potato protein, and coconut oil. One special ingredient — heme — contributes to the characteristic taste of meat and catalyzes all the other flavors when meat is cooked. Impossible Foods discovered how to get heme from plants, transforming the Impossible Burger into a carnivore’s delight that’s light on the planet.
Impossible Foods began producing burgers at its first full-scale production plant in Oakland, Calif. in September 2017. As the Oakland facility ramps up, the company plans to launch retail sales. Impossible Foods is also developing additional plant-based meat and dairy products.
About Impossible Foods:
Based in Redwood City, Calif., Impossible Foods makes delicious, nutritious meat and dairy products directly from plants — with a much smaller environmental footprint than meat from animals. The privately held company was founded in 2011 by Patrick O. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., formerly a biochemistry professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Stanford University. Investors include Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, Google Ventures, Horizons Ventures, UBS, Viking Global Investors, Temasek and Open Philanthropy Project.
Source: Impossible Foods
