Raisio PLC: appoints Chief Innovation Officer

Raisio / FI. (rg) Finland’s Raisio Group announces that Reetta Kivelä, an internationally renowned food innovator and Doctor of Science in Food Technology, has been appointed to the Group’s Chief Innovation Officer and a member of the Executive Committee, effective 14 August 2023. Kivelä will take over the leadership of Raisio’s research and product development organisations. The creation of the new Executive Committee position will strengthen the role of innovation in the Raisio Group.

Kivelä is known for her work on the development of a sustainable food chain in both startups and academia. Kivelä’s current full-time roles include CIO at Nordic Umami Company, which she co-founded, and professor of practice at the University of Helsinki. At the University of Helsinki, she has been involved in creating an innovation platform on sustainable food systems for researchers and students. In August, Kivelä will assume a full-time role at Raisio.

«Raisio’s competitive success requires a strong investment in differentiating innovation, and Reetta Kivelä’s undisputed expertise and strong track record will help fuel our international growth. The roles of research and product development in our megatrend-driven strategy will be further emphasised,» says Pekka Kuusniemi, CEO of Raisio.

«It is a pleasure to join the Raisio team to work in the vanguard of the food transition. Raisio has proven to be a true pioneer in sustainable food, and I believe that the three pillars of its strategy – oats, plant stanols and plant proteins – have a lot of potential that we can tap into to accelerate the transformation of the food system. Raisio’s purpose and strategy appealed to me greatly when the opportunity to work on new innovation presented itself,» Reetta Kivelä says.