My name is Dan Coyle and I am the new Chief Operating Officer at Finless Foods. Before I jump into why I joined Finless Foods and what I am excited about, I will take a moment to introduce myself.
I grew up in a small town in southern Oregon with a population of ~1,000 called Riddle. Nothing really exciting happened in Riddle, but it did lead me to getting a degree in Business with a minor in Computer Science from Oregon State University.
Over the past 30ish years of my career I have worked for large companies like Starbucks and smaller companies such as GU Energy Labs and Herb Pharm— where I was the COO for the last eight years.
I live in Berkeley now with my fiance Julianne and our two adopted dogs Sammy and Holly. Julianne and I are very passionate about animal welfare. I am also the proud father of two adult children who live in Washington.
There are two main reasons I was interested in the COO role at Finless. First, I was very drawn to Finless’ purpose. I have worked for companies with a purpose and I have worked for companies without. I have consistently found that I enjoy my career more when working for companies rooted in a mission. I also found that those without one weren’t nearly as fulfilling. Who doesn’t feel good about working towards a future for seafood where the ocean thrives?
Second, I am at Finless because the Bay Area feels like home for us and after moving away during COVID we quickly found ourselves missing the bay and missing our friends and family. So it feels great to be home again.
I am very excited to be at Finless. I look forward to the day when our plant-based products will be consumed widely and we can bring our cell-cultured tuna product to the global market. This will not only set us apart from the competition, but it’s a critical step to reducing pressure on our global fisheries in support of a thriving ocean.
We have a very bright future with rising demand for our plant-based products and I am confident we will see the same on the cell-cultured side of the business. I am grateful to be here working at Finless among such fun, intelligent people. I look forward to meeting every employee, investor, board and impact board member and I can’t wait to see where Finless goes from here.
