Chicken made from plants brand TiNDLE, developed by Next Gen Foods, is accelerating global expansion with several high-profile additions to the senior management team, along with naming an experienced Board of Advisors. Alex Ward, previously Head of Regional Innovation APAC at global fragrance creator Givaudan becomes Chief Operating Officer, Rohit Bhattacharya becomes Chief Financial Officer, following a Director role at Temasek, and Charlotte Teo joins the team from Johnson & Johnson, as Global Marketing Director.
Lending additional talent strength, TiNDLE has also formed a Board of Advisors, with Alberto Carrero, former Red Bull executive as the first to be named.
The strengthening of the senior leadership team based in Singapore will allow Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer Andre Menezes to scout the United States in preparation for TiNDLE’s launch and formulate and execute the strategy to establish TiNDLE on a global scale.
“Following our launch, record-setting Seed round and exceptionally quick regional expansion, we are now accelerating our global expansion. Setting up a US headquarters, recruiting a great team, and bringing on an ecosystem of partners will set the foundations for our US strategy. This will develop our understanding of consumer expectations and demand and deliver a superb launch for TiNDLE in the US in 2022.
“We will of course continue to build our tantalizing TiNDLE chicken experience across Asia’s trailblazing urban cities, with our leadership team in Singapore and across the Asia Pacific driving regional expansion. TiNDLE is already being sold side by side on menus with plant-based beef burgers from the leading US food tech companies in Singapore and Hong Kong.” says Co-founder & CEO, Andre Menezes.
Alex Ward, previously Head of Regional Innovation APAC at Givaudan becomes Chief Operating Officer.
Continuing its global expansion, TiNDLE, Next Gen’s plant-based chicken, will launch in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in mid-September 2021. Fine food specialist Classic Fine Foods, already its distributor for Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau, is also distributing TiNDLE in the United Arab Emirates.
Christophe Barret, CEO of Classic Fine Foods says “We want to become the choice partner for the best alternative protein brands, and to be recognized as a trailblazer, introducing innovations to our customers. TiNDLE is a game changer in the plant-based industry. It smells, tastes and cooks like chicken, while scoring very high in terms of texture and versatility whilst being vegan-friendly. After a successful launch in our key Asian markets, it will allow chefs across UAE to propose new elevated culinary experiences to their clients.”
The Middle East is a key market given its centrality to the world, the region’s reputation for very high chicken consumption, as well as market support for companies driving positive change in food systems. With an encouraging sign of interest from consumers and chefs, the expansion is in line with the mission to fast track TiNDLE’s goal of becoming the number one plant-based chicken globally.
