Minerva Foods Exec André Carvalho Appointed CEO of Pioneering Brazilian Plant-Based Meat Brand The New

The New, known for its top-quality and better-for-you plant based meat and ready-meal lines, taps meat industry veteran for next stage of growth

Sao Paulo —Brazilian plant-based meat brand The New announced today it has appointed as CEO André Carvalho, Country Sales and Marketing Director for top 20 global meat company Minerva Foods. At Minerva, Carvalho managed U$1bn of revenue and a team of 400 that covered more than 48,000 customers monthly, and created one of the largest protein B2B e-commerce platforms in Brazil. Prior to Minerva, Carvalho held senior positions at Bunge, PepsiCo, and Associated British Foods subsidiary AB Brasil. The appointment comes following strong 20% quarter-over-quarter sales growth for The New in Q1, and the launch of a popular new plant-based pork line in Q2 of this year.

“I am very excited to have joined The New team. It has the highest quality products in Brazil and an excellent brand, which together position it to capitalize on the rapidly expanding alternative protein market,” said Carvalho. “The company-owned manufacturing and R&D facilities and fantastic innovation pipeline position The New for continued strong growth in the coming years.”

“We are very excited for André to join the team and confident that he has the experience to grow the company to the next level,” added The New Founder Bruno Fonseca, who will continue to head R&D and new product development as well as serve on the company’s board of directors.

As part of the expansion into additional channels The New has also hired as head of sales Gustavo Cria, former Indirect Channel Leader for plant-based brand NotCo. The New has established relationships with major retail chains including Carrefour, Pao de Açucar and Oba, and is building its portfolio of specialist restaurant chains, aided by its superior health profile and premium quality. The broad portfolio across plant-based meat and fish products is set to expand with the development of a ready meal range delivering premium convenience products to consumers.

“André’s extensive experience in successfully driving sales expansion for top packaged goods, food service and meat brands is a great addition for The New as it continues to grow the reach of its premium quality alternative plant-based meats,” said James Caffyn, Partner at venture capital fund Lever VC and Board Chair of The New. “We believe his strong leadership experience will further fuel the next chapter of growth for the company, and we are excited to have him on board.” Lever VC is a global venture capital fund specialized in the alternative protein sector, whose partners were early investors in other leading brands including Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.

High-resolution photos cleared for use without attribution are available at: https://imgur.com/a/BGbGCDE

For more information on The New, visit:  https://thenewfoods.com.br/