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Food and beverage startups backed by tech investors are having a rough go of it this season, with Juicero<\/a> all but\u00a0melting down and companies like\u00a0Memphis Meats<\/a>, Urban Remedy<\/a> and Soylent<\/a> recalling products, according to required disclosures on the federal site Foodsafety.gov.<\/p>\n Now, Hampton Creek Foods<\/a>, a packaged goods company backed by the likes of Horizons, Khosla, and\u00a0AME Cloud Ventures,\u00a0is in the midst of a management shakeup.<\/p>\n According to Bloomberg\u2019s Olivia Zaleski<\/a>\u00a0Hampton Creek has\u00a0dismissed its chief financial officer and human resources chief along with finance and logistics\u00a0staff.\u00a0The company\u2019s COO, Dave Wengerhoff, is also leaving but will remain as an advisor. Its prior\u00a0COO, Andy Rendich, left in\u00a0the fall of 2016 according to his own LinkedIn profile.<\/p>\n The Bloomberg report also alleges Hampton Creek was burning a huge amount of money, as much as $10 million per month at one point.\u00a0We reached out to\u00a0multiple\u00a0Hampton Creek investors, and its CEO Josh Tetrick for more information about the startup\u2019s financial\u00a0health and fundraising status. Sources were not immediately\u00a0available to comment.<\/p>\n Hampton Creek CEO Josh Tetrick has come under fire previously for\u00a0his management<\/a> practices\u00a0and engaging in \u201cbuybacks,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0wherein the company purchased some of its own\u00a0products from store shelves.<\/p>\n The startup\u00a0makes plant-based foods designed to taste like\u00a0egg-based counterparts,\u00a0including mayo, dressings and different flavors of cookies and cookie dough. Its products are sold to commercial kitchens and at retailers like Target, Whole Foods and other major groceries.<\/p>\n One reason it has drawn the support of venture firms that normally invest in cutting-edge tech is that Hampton Creek has promised to use big data analytics to develop its\u00a0formulations, and to amass a huge set of data about plant-derived proteins.<\/p>\n Its products gained enough traction in the US market that the startup was\u00a0targeted by the\u00a0American Egg Board<\/a> in 2015. The USDA-affiliated organization promotes eggs using\u00a0funds supplied by industry compatriots.<\/p>\n Instead of promoting egg commodities broadly, as it was authorized\u00a0to do, the American Egg Board used its funds\u00a0to\u00a0show ads to\u00a0people who were searching for info about Hampton Creek products online.\u00a0Egg board employees\u00a0also exchanged cavalier emails threatening the startup\u00a0and Josh Tetrick.<\/p>\n Tetrick told Fortune magazine<\/a> earlier this week that\u00a0his startup has attained a $1.1 billion valuation, making it a \u201cunicorn.\u201d It\u00a0has not disclosed exactly how much venture capital and possibly venture debt financing it has raised to-date.<\/p>\n Tetrick sent a statement to media, including TechCrunch, about the recent dismissals and new hires at his firm. He said:<\/p>\n \u201cThese people\u00a0made us a better company while they were here. Some changes were made\u00a0due to structural reasons and some changes were made due to\u00a0performance reasons. Out of respect for the individuals who helped\u00a0build this company, we won\u2019t comment further.\u201d<\/p>\n According to a company spokesperson, Hampton Creek employs about 140 full-time today.\u00a0Despite its\u00a0issues, Hampton Creek is still\u00a0drawing in talent. Its\u00a0incoming CFO and COO is Erez Shima, who previously worked at Stratasys, and its new\u00a0CMO and revenue officer Brian Irving previously worked at Apple, Google and Airbnb, for example.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2014\/12\/hampton-creek-foods_day1_-6.jpg?w=680\")
Food and beverage startups backed by tech investors are having a rough go of it this season, with Juicero all but\u00a0melting down and companies like\u00a0Memphis Meats, Urban Remedy and Soylent recalling products, according to required disclosures on the federal site Foodsafety.gov. Now, Hampton Creek Foods, a packaged goods company backed by the likes of Horizons, Khosla, and\u00a0AME Cloud… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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