On Friday, June 16, Benson Hill announced co-founder Matt Crisp assigned to resign as CEO, and interim CEO would be Deanie Elsner, a former executive for Kellog’s and Kraft who previously served on the Benson Hill Board of Directors.
The company’s release included this comment from Dan Jacobi, Chairman of the Benson Hill Board of Directors: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I’d like to thank Matt for his contributions to Benson Hill. Since co-founding the Company over a decade ago, Matt has helped establish Benson Hill’s vision and led the Company to where it is today. The Board continues to focus on operational excellence and maximizing the long-term value of Benson Hill’s technology and products. We are grateful to have an established leader in Deanie step in as interim CEO during this important time. Deanie has significant operating experience and a record of delivering results in complex organizations. We are confident that she is the right person to lead the Company as we identify a permanent leader to take Benson Hill into its next phase.”
Founded in 2002, the company says its work is at the intersection of food science, data science and plant science. Today, it has 465 employees and serves market categories including: bakery, oil, alternate dairy, protein, snacks, and pet food.
Crisp provided this statement in the company’s announcement: “ “I co-founded Benson Hill with the goal of bringing necessary innovation and disruption that has been sorely lacking across the agri-food value chain. From attracting the best team in our industry, to developing best-in-class platforms like CropOS and Crop Accelerator, to acquiring key facilities and vertically integrating to achieve our go-to-market strategy, we have established a foundation for growth that is poised to reshape the future of food production. That said, as we focus on the execution required to navigate this operating landscape, the Board and I have agreed that now is the right time to begin transitioning Benson Hill’s leadership.”
Benson Hill says its Crop Os platform can provide higher protein and higher oil content soybeans in five years compared with the standard GMO process taking 15 to 20 years. While commodity soybeans have 36% protein, Benson Hill has 12 soybean varieties growing today with up to 45% protein. Benson Hill grew its soybeans on 100,000 acres in ’22 and aimed to double the contract commitment in 2023.
One new market for their high protein soybeans has been commercial fish food, specifically trout and salmon.
At a media event on March 30, Crisp said: “I love diversification. Aquaculture is one of a few wins we’re having, and I’m bullish on our portfolio.”
Benson Hill has been working on developing new yellow pea varieties to increase protein while addressing some of the flavor profile concerns.
For 2023, the company leaders previously provided guidance of revenues totaling $100 million to $110 million.
