By CHRIS KOGER

January 14, 2021

Vertical farming company Plenty, South San Francisco, has added former Impossible Foods vice president of sales Dana Worth as senior vice president of commercial.

Worth led the debut of the plant-based Impossible Burger, building the sales and commercial teams for the company, according to a news release from Plenty. While at Impossible Foods, he helped sign deals with Starbucks, Burger King and other foodservice outlets to build the Impossible Burger brand.

"We are delighted to welcome Dana to the Plenty family as we continue to manage our substantial growth trajectory," Nate Storey, Plenty co-founder, said in the release. "Dana's experience working with fast-growing companies, such as Impossible Foods and PayPal, who are pioneers in their markets, will be instrumental as we accelerate both our corporate and commercial footprint and establish our platform as the standard for indoor vertical farming." 

Plenty has promoted Megan Gillespie to vice president of farm operations and Daniel Malech to senior vice president of strategy and general counsel.

Gillespie, formerly of Tesla, joined Plenty in 2019 and has been pivotal in getting the company’s flagship farm operational. In 2020, she led an expansion strategy, tripling the production and ensuring product made it to stores and food banks, according to the release.

In her new role, Gillespie will oversee farm operations for Plenty's farms, including its latest facility - the world's first high-output, indoor vertical farm in Compton, California - bringing access to healthy vegetables and new jobs to the community.

Malech joined Plenty in 2018 as head of legal, advising the company on business strategy and implementation. His new role includes regulatory, compliance, and overseeing the company’s intellectual property portfolio.