Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) has named veteran Amazon executive Phil Hardin as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Hardin spent 15 years at Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and has held several roles in finance, most recently as Vice- President, Finance for Amazon advertising. He will join Beyond Meat in July.
The appointment comes at a time when the plant-based food market heats up, with many companies planning a stock market listing, including Beyond Meat's main rival Impossible Foods.
Oat milk maker Oatly Group (NASDAQ:OTLY) raised over a billion dollars when it went public in May this year, highlighting investor interest in the plant-based food space.
Beyond Meat's stock, which rose about 90% between its IPO in May 2019 and the end of 2020 is up 14.5% so far in 2021.
Beyond Meat’s previous CFO, Mark Nelson, who played a key role in Beyond Meat's blockbuster IPO, was pulled into a controversy after being named in a fraud claims lawsuit filed by Don Lee Farms, a former Beyond Meat supplier. Nelson retired from the company in May