_gif.gif)
UK tempeh brand Better Nature has refreshed its leadership team ahead of what it calls ‘a new era of growth’ for the company.
The change sees co-founder Elin Roberts become sole chief executive officer, while fellow co-founder Ando Ahnan-Winarno will become chief operating officer.
Former COO and co-founder Fabio Rinaldo is now head of supply chain and product development, while co-founder and former co-CEO Christopher Kong will step back from day-to-day leadership in October. He will stay with the business as a board member and advisor.
CEO Roberts commented: “We are hugely grateful to Chris for his monumental contribution to Better Nature over the past six years”.
“Anyone who’s met Chris will know how passionate, energetic, determined and resourceful he is. He genuinely breaks down walls. And we’ve needed that to achieve what has often felt impossible.”
Roberts said the business’ leadership structure among the founding team of four was “no longer serving” the company, adding that the brand needed “more single-minded leadership” to reach its next stage of growth.
The leadership team will focus on continuing to accelerate growth for Better Nature, which recorded its best-ever quarter in Q2 2025 with 128% year-over-year sales growth. It is now the UK’s top tempeh brand by volume, holding 38.1% market share, and recently celebrated a £1.1 million funding raise.
Roberts continued: “My focus on business strategy, brand and high-performance culture, coupled with Ando’s unrivalled tempeh knowledge and boundless creativity, gives us the right set-up to lead Better Nature to new heights and enter an exciting new era of growth”.
As part of the restructure, Better Nature has also announced the appointment of Alessandra Bellini, former chief customer officer at Tesco, as non-executive director. Bellini contributed to the Tesco brand turnaround, transformation of the Clubcard platform and customer strategy for the retail group between 2017 and 2023.
She will work with the leadership team at Better Nature to steer the brand on its mission to ‘save the world from so-so protein like chicken and get everyone eating supercharged protein: tempeh,’ tapping into the £3.2 billion UK chicken market with an aim of driving consumers towards plant-based protein.
Completing the new senior team line-up are Helen Atkinson, head of sales, and Alan Chan, fractional CFO. A new temporary marketing director for the brand is also set to be announced soon, providing maternity cover for Noora Parssinen.
