Imran Afzal

 

A purpose driven R&D leader that has grown oats in Scotland, worked directly in operations, led category development working in the retail sector, scaled a start-up successfully and led R&D open innovation efforts at a multi-national company, much of it with start-ups.  As a result, Imran understands the different parts of the food system well and can find value in less obvious ways, holding a people-centric outlook and understanding the power of internal and external teams to drive innovation to market successfully.

 

Imran has launched more than 700 products in multiple food and beverage categories. Recent roles included leading PepsiCo’s open innovation efforts inside the world’s largest food innovation community and leading innovation on the board of a food start-up by devising R&D strategies and implementing them to create an innovation pipeline to scale the business successfully.  His USP is using his wide network to solve complex problems in innovative ways and achieves this by giving more than he takes. 

 

Imran aspires to continue making a difference to the food system and leave the planet in a much better place for the next generation.