Motif FoodWorks CEO and leadership

Formerly Head of R&D at Indigo Agriculture, SVP R&D at PepsiCo, and SVP at DuPont- Solae, Jon has more than 25 years in life sciences and consumer products. He’s an accomplished executive with broad experience leading technology teams, discovery and development scientists, culinary chefs, and commercial leaders. He has a passion for servant leadership, a track record of developing talent, and believes that biotechnology will propel the next food revolution through affordable, sustainable and accessible ingredients. Jon is a member of Motif’s Board of Directors.

Global R&D executive with over seventeen years of experience leveraging technology and innovation to deliver business results in the ingredient and FMCG industries in both developed and emerging markets. Leadership experience includes end-to-end functional accountability for regional R&D on the international stage, as well as upstream technology development and commercialization across multiple Food and Beverage categories at the corporate level. A solid combination of detail focus and big-picture skills complements a talent for functional capability building and driving organization-wide collaboration.

Saloni Varma brings 20+ years of diverse experience in strategic and operational finance to her role at Motif and currently also serves as the Chair of the Audit committee at Thorne Healthtech. She was formerly the CFO of ByHeart and prior to that she held leadership roles at various purpose-driven brands like Chobani, Dove, and Talenti, focusing on budgeting, forecasting, and execution on strategic opportunities. Saloni has also worked in investment banking in New York and Tokyo at UBS and began her career in accounting at KPMG in India. Saloni has a Masters in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School, a Masters of Accounting from University of Mumbai and is a a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Michele brings nearly 30 years of diverse experience across food and consumer goods, including infant formula, weight management, sports nutrition, medical foods and dietary supplements. Formerly President of Dairy and Culinary with Kerry Ingredient and Flavors, she has held leadership roles at a number of companies, including DuPont, Solae and Nestle. Michele was the founding CEO at Cadena BioSciences, a start-up focused on gut microbiomes. Michele has deep, proven experience heading global strategy, planning, operations and P&L responsibility for multi-billion dollar portfolios.

Over 15 years of clinical, academic, industry, and research experience in medicine/law and in the subspeciality of infectious diseases. Worked in public, government, private and academic institutions for patient care. Served as a faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine and currently as an adjunct Assistant Professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Responsible for leading strategic and tactical legal initiatives. Well versed in the design, execution and close out of Phase I - III clinical trials for both antibacterials and antiviral agents.

Formerly Head of R&D at Indigo Agriculture, SVP R&D at PepsiCo, and SVP at DuPont- Solae, Jon has more than 25 years in life sciences and consumer products. He’s an accomplished executive with broad experience leading technology teams, discovery and development scientists, culinary chefs, and commercial leaders. He has a passion for servant leadership, a track record of developing talent, and believes that biotechnology will propel the next food revolution through affordable, sustainable and accessible ingredients. Jon is a member of Motif’s Board of Directors.