Parisa Fallahi, Ph.D., EMBA, is an accomplished research and development executive, independent board director, and product innovation strategist with more than 20 years of experience spanning food, beverage, nutrition, wellness, ingredients, biotechnology, and consumer products. Her career has been defined by an ability to translate complex science into commercially successful products that meet consumer needs, strengthen business performance, and support a more resilient global food system. Blending scientific rigor, engineering expertise, operational leadership, and strategic business judgment, Parisa has become a trusted leader in guiding products from early-stage concept through manufacturing scale-up and global commercialization.
Parisa began her professional journey in beverage research, product formulation, and process design and quality management with a PepsiCo-licensed bottling operation in Iran. During this formative period, she worked on fortified beverages, flavored waters, concentrate stability, quality assurance, and food-processing systems. These early responsibilities gave her a practical understanding of how formulation science, manufacturing discipline, regulatory requirements, and consumer expectations must work together to create reliable products at scale.
Her passion for sustainable innovation led her to pursue advanced academic research in chemical engineering, food biotechnology, and agricultural and biosystems engineering. Parisa earned a Ph.D. from South Dakota State University, where her work focused on plant-based proteins, aquaculture nutrition, extrusion processing, agricultural byproduct utilization, and sustainable food, feed, and fuel systems. She later completed postdoctoral research at South Dakota State University and the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center, contributing to projects involving biomass processing, fermentation, biofuel coproducts, ingredient functionality, and the conversion of agricultural materials into higher-value applications.
Parisa’s research background established her as a credible contributor to the scientific community. She has authored and co-authored publications addressing plant-based ingredient systems, protein digestibility, extrusion technology, biomass pretreatment, food enzymes, starch functionality, and sustainable aquafeed development. Her published work demonstrates a long-standing ability to evaluate how ingredients and processing conditions affect nutrition, functionality, durability, scalability, and commercial viability. She has also served as a peer reviewer for respected scientific journals, reflecting her commitment to advancing research quality and industry knowledge.
Parisa transitioned from academia into large-scale consumer product innovation at Kellogg Company, where she led research, product development, and commercialization initiatives across MorningStar Farms, Special K, and wholesome snack platforms. She managed the development and scale-up of more than 20 SKUs, applying expertise in extrusion, protein texturization, fortification, cold forming, baking, granulation, and ingredient optimization. Her work helped deliver double-digit margin improvements, strengthen product performance, and restore manufacturability to production systems that faced significant operational risk.
Her career reached a new level of scope and influence during more than six years at Beyond Meat. Advancing through senior research and development, QSR innovation, and director-level product leadership roles, Parisa helped shape global product platforms across retail, foodservice, and major quick-service restaurant channels. She led cross-functional teams through product ideation, formulation, new technology development, commercialization, customer integration, supply-chain coordination, and post-launch improvement across North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom.
Among her most notable accomplishments was driving build and scale the Beyond Steak platform, including the development of Beyond Steak Tips, an award-winning product associated with more than $200 million in annual revenue. She also led the successful commercialization of Beyond Chicken Tenders, Beyond Chicken Pieces, Beyond Smashable Burger, Beyond Meat Jerky, and other strategically important platforms. Her work supported more than 50 product launches, approximately $300 million in cumulative revenue impact, and multiyear innovation pipelines valued at roughly $400 million.
Parisa is equally recognized for improving the economics and operational performance of innovation. She led reformulation, manufacturing, supplier, and process-optimization efforts that reduced costs by approximately 40 percent across key platforms. Through disciplined cost engineering and technical redesign, she helped shift the McPlant platform from negative to positive margin while supporting rapid commercialization for McDonald’s Germany in less than six months. These achievements illustrate her ability to balance product quality, nutrition, consumer appeal, speed, scalability, and financial performance.
As a people leader, Parisa has built and guided high-performing multidisciplinary teams operating in fast-paced and resource-constrained environments. She led a 15-person cross-functional innovation organization, including ten direct reports, while establishing clearer operating models, stage-gate processes, decision frameworks, and performance expectations. Her leadership approach combines accountability with mentorship, creating conditions in which scientists, engineers, marketers, operators, and commercial teams can collaborate effectively and develop into stronger future leaders.
Parisa now applies her experience through board service and entrepreneurial advisory work. As an Independent Director with Phytokana Ingredients Inc., she supports growth strategy, innovation, commercialization, portfolio management, and strategic expansion within the functional ingredient sector. Through Lab-2-Lunch Consultancy, she advises emerging companies and founders on ingredient strategy, product development, technology selection, margin improvement, manufacturing readiness, and capital-efficient commercialization.
Her strategic capabilities are strengthened by an Executive MBA from Quantic School of Business & Technology and additional credentials in AI and business transformation, corporate strategy, operations management, forecasting, brand development, statistical decision-making, and strategic leadership. These qualifications complement her scientific background and enable her to contribute meaningfully to discussions involving investment priorities, portfolio performance, governance, operational risk, and long-range growth. She is especially interested in helping startups and smaller organizations develop repeatable systems for innovation and scale.
International experience has also shaped Parisa’s leadership perspective. She has worked across North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, Middle East, and Asia and brings an understanding of diverse markets, manufacturing systems, consumer preferences, and commercial environments. A native or bilingual Persian speaker with intermediate Arabic proficiency, she values cultural awareness and believes that strong innovation is built by listening closely to consumers, customers, technical experts, and local partners.
Parisa’s personal values are rooted in curiosity, integrity, collaboration, and purposeful innovation. A steadfast advocate for sustainability and food security, she is motivated by opportunities to create better-for-you and better-for-the-planet products while helping organizations make thoughtful decisions about science, technology, nutrition, and growth. Whether operating in the laboratory, executive suite, startup environment, or boardroom, she remains focused on connecting innovation to meaningful human, commercial, and environmental outcomes.
Character:
Parisa leads with integrity, humility, perseverance, and a genuine commitment to improving the health and sustainability of food systems. She earns trust by supporting her teams, honoring scientific evidence, and remaining accountable for both commercial outcomes and the broader impact of innovation.
Knowledge:
She combines deep expertise in food science, nutrition, chemical engineering, product development, biotechnology, operations, and commercialization. Her scientific training and executive education allow her to evaluate opportunities from technical, financial, operational, and strategic perspectives.
Strategic:
Parisa excels at translating consumer needs and emerging technologies into scalable product platforms, disciplined investment priorities, and profitable innovation pipelines. She consistently considers long-term growth, portfolio balance, margin performance, manufacturing readiness, and organizational capability when guiding decisions.
Communication:
Communicating complex scientific and technical concepts in clear, practical language that executives, boards, customers, investors, and cross-functional teams can act upon. Her collaborative and inclusive communication style creates alignment, reduces organizational friction, and builds confidence during periods of uncertainty and transformation.
