Beyond Meat appoints former Olam Executive Brijesh Krishnaswamy as Chief Operating Officer

Beyond Meat has appointed longtime Olam Food Ingredients executive Brijesh Krishnaswamy as its new Chief Operating Officer, as the plant-based meat company prepares to report its second-quarter financial results this week.

The appointment, disclosed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will see Krishnaswamy join Beyond Meat on a part-time basis from August 24 before moving into the role full-time on September 30.

• Beyond Meat appointed former Olam Food Ingredients executive Brijesh Krishnaswamy as Chief Operating Officer, with a phased start beginning August 24 before assuming the role full-time on September 30.
• Krishnaswamy succeeded interim chief transformation officer John Boken, who had overseen COO responsibilities since May while the company searched for a permanent replacement.
• Beyond Meat also reappointed founder and CEO Ethan Brown to its board of directors, filling a vacancy created following Raphael Thomas Wallander's resignation in May.

Krishnaswamy brings more than two decades of experience from Olam Food Ingredients, where he held a range of commercial leadership and category management positions after joining the company in 2000. Most recently, he served as chief commercial officer for Olam Food Ingredients North America, a position he had held since February 2025.

According to the SEC filing, Krishnaswamy will receive an annual base salary of US$110,000 while working part-time, increasing to US$550,000 once he transitions to full-time employment.

He replaces John Boken, Beyond Meat's interim chief transformation officer, who has been overseeing the COO function since May. The company said Boken will no longer carry out COO responsibilities once Krishnaswamy assumes the role full-time.

The appointment marks another leadership change for Beyond Meat as it continues efforts to stabilize its business amid declining sales. The COO position has seen several changes in recent years, including interim appointments following the suspension of former COO Doug Ramsey in 2022.

The announcement comes just days before Beyond Meat is scheduled to release its second-quarter financial results on August 5. When reporting first-quarter earnings in May, the company said it expected second-quarter revenue for the period ending June 27 to be between US$60 million and US$65 million, down from US$75 million in the same quarter a year earlier. First-quarter revenue fell 15.3% year over year.

Alongside the COO appointment, Beyond Meat also announced that founder, president and CEO Ethan Brown has returned to the company's board of directors as a Class III director, with a term extending until 2028.

Brown fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Raphael Thomas Wallander, who stepped down from the board on May 28. Brown had left the board in 2025 as part of a restructuring linked to a debt exchange offer but has continued to serve as chief executive since founding Beyond Meat in 2009.

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