November 2019
Vol 6 | Issue 262

Q&A with Stephen Goldmann of Five Suns Foods

Co-Founder, CEO

Principal Series:

Five Suns Foods is a food ingredient company with a mission to bring regenerative plant products to market that support biodiversity, limit chemical inputs, use fewer resources and promote societal health.
Five Suns Foods will be the first global supplier of the Andean legume (lupinus mutabilis), or chocho, the world’s highest plant-based protein.


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Is there a market for this?

Prior to 2019, analyst estimates placed a $20B value on the plant based protein market by 2022. Despite the fact that we have been working on this for almost three years, we too are surprised by the attention and focus that has moved to this area this year. To see Burger King not just selling, but charging a premium for a veggie burger should surprise us all, and I have not met anyone in this industry who thinks that this is a fad, rather it is a shift in how we are thinking about what we eat.

How will you measure your impact?

To measure the positive ecological and social impacts that will be driven by increased chocho cultivation in Ecuador, Five Suns Foods has aligned with experienced partners such as INIAP (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, US FDA equivalent) and El Ordeño (B-Corp pending) to establish protocols and immediately implement tracking and reporting. On the ecological side, Five Suns Foods is developing impact measurements for soil health and developing the first certified organic chocho grown in Ecuador. Related to social impact, Five Suns Foods and El Ordeño have developed a multi-year value-generating social impact assessment for a pilot project in the Cayambe region. We intend to implement this model in additional communities representing a total of 1,200 rural families by 2024.

Are you in market yet?

We plan to be in market next year, these funds will go toward constructing our processing facility and making market inroads that will allow for a broad and successful launch.


Stephen Goldmann of Five Suns Foods

Stephen Goldmann is a business leader with deep industry experience in strategy, product development, brand creation and messaging. His current role is leading Five Suns Foods, a company he helped form in 2016 to bring a new superfood, a bean with the highest known protein content, to market in a regenerative and holistic way.

Stephen has spent his career in food, beginning as a fine dining chef with a global pedigree. Prior to his position here, Stephen, for 15 years, was a partner at The Culinary Edge, leading innovation and product strategy at global food companies such as Starbucks and McDonalds and developed CPG products including Sweet Kale Salad for Eat Smart. During this time, Stephen helped found numerous food and restaurant brands. These include Mindful Meats, the first certified non-GMO meat company, and Starbird, a quickly growing, better-for-you fast food chain. Stephen’s broad view of the restaurant and packaged food world results in delivering fast and actionable innovation.