Eric Hedstrand
Co-Founder & Chief Commercialization Officer @ CARNÉA
About
Growth-focused entrepreneur with a track record of building businesses at the intersection of hospitality, real estate, and food innovation. With 20+ years of experience in consumer packaged goods, I’ve led product development, branding, and commercialization efforts for some of the industry’s biggest names—now applying that expertise to my own ventures. As the co-founder of Asentia Foods, I’m redefining the future of meat by integrating plant-forward innovation with bold flavors. My background in R&D, sourcing, and commercialization enables me to bring high-quality, scalable products to market while navigating regulatory and operational complexities. In real estate, I own and operate a portfolio of high-performing vacation rentals across Alaska and California, curating one-of-a-kind guest experiences. I also offer cohosting and property management services, leveraging direct booking strategies and hospitality expertise to maximize revenue for investors. Now, I’m looking to expand my impact through strategic advisory and board positions, particularly in food innovation, hospitality, and real estate investment. I thrive in early-stage growth, market expansion, and operational efficiency, helping businesses scale while maintaining brand integrity and customer experience.
United States
San Francisco
Consumer Goods
Process Improvement, Strategic Partnerships, Food Science, HACCP, Sensory Evaluation, Food Processing, Food Technology, Ingredients, Food Industry, Food Safety, Product Innovation, Consumer Products, Product Development, Food Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Chemistry, Continuous Improvement, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Gas Chromatography, Food Manufacturing
Experience
Co-Founder & Chief Commercialization Officer
CARNÉA
San Francisco, California, United States
I lead the scale up, development and launch of our innovative alt meat product portfolio.
Founder
Eric Hedstrand Consulting
San Francisco, California, United States
Founder
Homestead Hideaways
Founder of Homestead Hideaways, a boutique hospitality company that owns and manages short term rentals. Hands on operations, design led stays, and clear revenue focus.
Director of Research & Development
NotCo
San Francisco Bay Area
Orchestrated the launch of Oscar Meyer branded plant based hot dogs into the retail marketplace.
Director of Product Development
Impossible Foods
Redwood City, California, United States
Orchestrated the successful launches of Beef, Chicken, and Pork product lines into retail and foodservice, collectively generating $150M in total sales by 2023
Sr. Manager, Product Development
Impossible Foods
Redwood City, California
I scaled a team from 3 to 17 high caliber product development professionals on a mission to save the planet!
Manager, Product Development
Impossible Foods
Redwood City, CA
Spearheaded the launch of Burger King's Impossible Whopper product line, driving a remarkable $50M in annualized sales
Manager, Product Development
Eat Just, Inc.
San Francisco Bay Area
Developed and introduced a line of three ready-to-eat (RTE) baked cookies and four ready-to-eat (RTE) refrigerated cookie dough flavors into the retail market Implemented a shelf life program and laboratory, overseeing the procurement and installation of environmental chambers, and developing procedures for shelf life assessment
Sr. Scientist, R&D
Annie's Inc.
Integrated all Annie's products and R&D personnel into General Mills portfolio in time and under budget. Provided product/process development leadership for commercialization of new products. Re-launched granola bar line with improved product offering.
Scientist, R&D
General Mills
Developed and introduced a series of four SKUs of caramelized nut bars for the Food Should Taste Good brand. Innovatively utilized cereal equipment in a novel manner for bar production, resulting in a technical breakthrough that paved the way for several subsequent product developments Led a brand renovation project for Cascadian Farm's sheet and cut chewy granola bars, resulting in over $1MM in cost of goods sold (COGS) savings for the company Launched new line of Cascadian Farm ancient grain squares, and Nature Valley nut crisp bars. Formulated and successfully launched a retail-ready line of puffed rice cereal infused with pea protein for Cascadian Farm Enhanced Cascadian Farm's organic granola cereal portfolio through 2 line extensions, generating 10% incremental sales on the granola portfolio in year one
Education
University of Minnesota
Food Science
St. Olaf College
Biology, History
Eric Hedstrand 's Contact Information
Phone
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