Burcon NutraScience Corporation has announced that Johann Tergesen will be stepping down as its president and CEO but will remain CEO until either a successor is appointed by the company's board of directors, or no later than February 28, 2022.
Tergesen’s decision to focus on other pursuits follows completion of the $130 million first phase of a planned three-phase plant protein production facility for Burcon's Merit Functional Foods joint venture, which has been designed and built to exclusively produce Burcon’s patented proteins, the Vancouver-based company said.
"As a co-founder and management team member for more than 23 years, Johann has played an influential role in Burcon's development," chairman Peter Kappel said in a statement.
"With the completion of the commissioning of phase 1 of Merit Functional Food's new state-of-the-art protein production facility, the groundwork has been laid for Burcon to grow and thrive,” he added.
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The company noted that the growing preference for sustainable, healthier foods is propelling the plant-based food and beverage industry, in literally every category, around the globe. With plant-based eating poised for explosive growth, it said Merit is ramping up production volumes and sales at the new state-of-the-art plant protein production facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In the past quarter, Merit announced that Phase 1 at the first of its kind plant protein facility is now commercially ready and capable of producing the high-purity pea and canola proteins using Burcon's technology. The highly differentiated Peazazz and Peazac pea proteins and the Puratein line of canola proteins, which are now being produced at the facility under an exclusive license from Burcon, are ideal for use as ingredients in plant-based food and beverage applications, the company added.
On top of the positive momentum at Merit, Burcon said it continues to advance discussions and negotiations with potential partners on additional plant-based protein opportunities. These opportunities have arisen from research and development work conducted at its Winnipeg Technical Centre.
It said its best-in-class proteins have the potential to establish themselves as premium products in the rapidly expanding plant-based food and beverage industry and alternative protein market.
"Burcon's team shared a vision of being the first to bring-to-market functionally and nutritionally valuable proteins from canola," Tergesen commented. "Now, with multiple plant-based proteins, including the world's first human-food-grade canola protein, being sustainably produced at Merit Functional Food's new production facility, and the potential for additional commercial partnerships developing, I have decided to focus on other pursuits for the next stage in my life."
"There is no right time to leave a business that one has put his heart and soul into for over two decades, but Burcon's prospects are now at the point of commercial realisation and I leave the business in the capable hands of our talented and driven team and board of directors," he concluded.
To ensure an orderly transition, Burcon said Tergesen will continue in an ongoing capacity as an advisor to the company and its board of directors.
Kincannon & Reed, an executive search firm specialising in the food and agribusiness sectors, has been appointed to assist in recruiting a new CEO, it added.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com