Co-CEO Chris Kong is stepping back from day-to-day leadership in October, with Elin Roberts set to become the sole CEO.
Meanwhile, Dr Ando Ahnan-Winarno has been named chief operating officer, with former COO Fabio Rinaldo announced as head of supply chain and product development. Kong will remain a board member and advisor.
The senior leadership team also includes head of sales Helen Atkinson and chief financial officer Alan Chan. A maternity cover marketing director is set to be announced soon, taking over from Noora Parssinen.
Additionally, Better Nature has announced that former Tesco chief customer officer Alessandra Bellini is joining as a non-executive director.
Moving forward, the new leadership team will be focused on “supercharging” business growth, building on the brand’s best-ever quarter in Q2 of 2025, with 128% year-on-year sales growth. Better Nature is now the UK’s No.1 tempeh brand by volume, with 38.1% market share.
The business also recently raised £1.1 million in funding to support its ambitions.
Commenting on the reshuffle, Roberts said: “We are hugely grateful to Chris for his monumental contribution to Better Nature over the past 6 years. Anyone who’s met Chris will know how passionate, energetic, determined and resourceful he is. He genuinely breaks down walls. And we’ve needed that to achieve what has often felt impossible.”
Writing on LinkedIn, Kong said that while the decision may come as a shock, it was decided on back in March.
He added: “I could not have imagined a more thrilling and fulfilling way to spend my 20s. It’s hard to put into words how immensely grateful I am for this journey.”
On her vision for the business, Roberts continued: “As a business, we’re always pushing to be bigger, bolder and stronger. Being a leadership and founding team of four was no longer serving us. To take us to the next stage of growth, we needed more single-minded leadership.
“My focus on business strategy, brand, and high-performance culture, coupled with Ando’s unrivalled tempeh knowledge and boundless creativity, gives us the right set-up to lead Better Nature to new heights and enter an exciting new era of growth.”
Roberts also described new arrival Bellini as an “incredible asset” for the business.
“Her unrivalled experience at Tesco and Unilever in FMCG brand marketing, innovation, supply chain and NPD, coupled with her steady, strategic leadership experience, will be invaluable in helping us accelerate long-term brand growth as we scale up to become a leading protein brand on a global scale,” she concluded.
