Dive Brief:
- Beyond Meat, a provider of plant-based meat alternatives, has appointed Tony Kalajian as its new chief accounting officer and principal accounting officer, effective Jan. 12, according to a securities filing.
- Kalajian’s appointment comes after the company terminated its prior principal accounting officer and controller, Yi (Jevy) Luo, in December, following the identification of a material weakness in internal controls related to financial reporting.
- As part of its efforts to improve internal accounting processes, Beyond Meat has outlined plans to hire personnel with strong technical accounting knowledge and provide new training for key accounting and financial staff.
Dive Insight:
Kalajian will be taking over the role of principal accounting officer from CFO Lubi Kutua, who had been serving in an interim capacity since Luo’s departure. Kutua will continue in her roles as treasurer and CFO at Beyond Meat.
With a background in the medical industry, Kalajian brings experience as a consultant CFO for Quantem Healthcare and has previously held roles as CAO for various companies, including Calidi Biotherapeutics, OncoCyte Corporation, and Lineage Cell Therapeutics.
As part of his new role, Kalajian will receive a base salary of $325,000, with the opportunity for an annual bonus of up to 35% of his base salary. He will also receive a one-time cash bonus of $35,000 upon assuming the position.
While Beyond Meat works to strengthen its accounting processes, the company continues to face challenges in its financial performance, with a significant decrease in gross profit reported for the third quarter of 2025.
Additionally, Beyond Meat’s stock has faced scrutiny from shareholders, with investigations into potential securities fraud and a recent court order to pay damages in a trademark infringement lawsuit.
Beyond Meat has not yet provided a response to these developments.