Bernhard Van Lengerich

Bernhard began his career with Baker and Pastry Chef apprenticeships in Germany. He completed his PhD in Food/Biotechnology at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany. His work experience includes Unilever Germany (Food Technologist), RJR Nabisco (Research Director) and the Buehler Group in Switzerland (Vice President R&D Food). In 1994 Bernhard joined General Mills, Inc. in Minneapolis and was Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President for Technology Strategy. Bernhard authored/co-author over 150 patents, established a Game Changer program and created a 'Technology Venturing' initiative, enabling faster and high impact innovations. Bernhard is Honorarium Professor at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany and Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists, Chicago. Bernhard has been an invited participant in round table discussions under the Obama Administration at the White House Office for Science and Technology Policy on global protein security. Bernhard retired from General Mills in 2015 and founded 'Seeding the Future Foundation', a 501 (c) 3 organization focusing on post-harvest loss reduction in Sub Saharan Afrika. He also founded 'Food System Strategies LLC', a strategic advisory firm supporting primarily start-ups along the food system value chain. In 2016 he served at Beyond Meat as acting CTO and Head of R&D and joined Beyond Meat's Board in 2018. Bernhard serves as a Board member of the German Institute of Food Technology (DIL) and several other organizations in the US and Europe.