Episode 20: How V2Food's science chief is rebuilding trust in plant-based meat

In this episode of Women Transforming Food, host Amie and co-host Angeline Achariya interview Lisa-Claire Ronquest-Ross, Chief Science Officer of V2 Food, on balancing scientific rigor with commercial reality. Lisa shares how V2 Food leveraged CSIRO research and a Hungry Jack's partnership to launch the plant-based Whopper, maintaining market leadership through global consolidation by continuously refining formulations to improve taste and reduce costs. She details her strategies for decoding science for the boardroom—such as branding their research platform "Replitech" and establishing "taste" as a board-level KPI—while advocating for better industry-university alignment in Australia and using partnerships, an advisory board, and a dedicated internal team to protect long-term discovery from short-term commercial pressures.