Plant-based 'milk' firm names out-of-home business development lead
Baldwin was previously business manager at Arla Foods. Before that he was national account manager at Belgian frozen food business D'Arta. Prior to that he managed and developed foodservice and key accounts and worked in business development for Innocent Drinks for six years after being an account manager for McCain Foods for five years.
Founded by brothers, Tom and Nick Watkins, Mighty was founded to offer a true dairy alternative that was nutritious and sustainable without compromising on taste. It has raised £8m to invest in international expansion within the EU and in launching its new plant-based milk technology.
The company said Baldwin’s appointment marked Mighty’s ongoing commitment to strengthen its foodservice offer in a period in which year-on-year sales had quadrupled. It follows other recruits joining from Meatless Farm and Asda. Baldwin had long-term goals of developing a field sales team powered by sustainable electric vans, the business said.
M.LKOLOGY range
Baldwin joins the team as Mighty prepares to launch its M.LKOLOGY products nationwide in Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Tesco stores from mid-January. The range uses biomass fermentation to create a plant-based milk that tastes, looks and feels like dairy milk. The business has acquired the exclusive rights for this technology to launch the next generation of plant-based milk.
In 12 months, the company has grown from a team of three to 20 team members, creating new roles in its innovation & technical, sales and marketing departments.
Nick Watkins, co-founder of Mighty, said: “To be able to attract talent from the big dairy FMCG’s like Ben, with his longstanding background in foodservice shows how far Mighty has come in three short years.
"This appointment comes at a pivotal time for the brand as we develop our far-reaching goals for the foodservice and out-of-home channel.
"Foodservice is leading the way in responding to consumers desire. You only need to look at certain university settings which are actively switching people away from dairy – you have to ask for dairy now, they assume you don’t want it. The way the wind is blowing – dairy is the alternative now.”
