Cruelty-Free Chronicles: Christie Lagally Of Rebellyous Foods On Top Brands Redefining Ethical Animal Practices in Their Industries
An Interview With Wanda Malhotra
Encourage others to stop using animals. When considering your supply chain, require animal free options or start a conversation around what that might look like.
The movement towards cruelty-free and ethical practices concerning animals is gaining substantial momentum. From cosmetics to fashion and beyond, brands are recognizing the significance of adopting animal-friendly approaches not just as a marketing ploy, but as an integral part of their corporate ethos. This evolution speaks to a broader societal shift, one that places emphasis on kindness, sustainability, and responsible consumerism. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Christie Lagally.
Christie Lagally is the founder and CEO of Rebellyous Foods, a food production technology company working to make plant-based meat price-competitive with animal based meat. Lagally began her career in the aerospace industry working on testing, designing, and manufacturing commercial airplanes at Boeing. Now at Rebellyous, she focuses on designing novel manufacturing equipment that addresses the two most significant obstacles facing the plant-based meat industry: cost and quality at scale.
Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
I grew up in Golden, Colorado with my mother, two sisters, my grandmother and several dogs, cats, rabbits and horses. My first dog Dusty was my inspiration to go vegetarian, and later all animals inspired me to be vegan. As a child, I was fascinated by the natural world, and I struggled to tolerate being in school all day when my dog and cat friends remained at home. I also cared deeply about the environment and committed to recycling even if I had to walk miles to take cans or newspapers to the recycling center. I graduated high school in California and attended college in-state to receive degrees in Organizational Psychology and then later in Mechanical Engineering, and received my Masters in Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia. From Colorado, California, British Columbia and now Seattle, I’ve been lucky to live and work in some of the most beautiful places in the country.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
As an aerospace engineer, I have been fortunate to work on a wide variety of very interesting projects. I worked on one of NASA’s first prototype solar sails and a prototype solar panel concentrator. I also did lab work on early hardware for the James Webb Space Telescope and early designs of the Thirty Meter Telescope Project. The crossover between my love of the natural world, exploration and the environment was present since the beginning, and the field of engineering helped me explore those passions. One of the best lessons I’ve learned is that taking on hard problems, often those that others don’t want to do, sets you up for interesting and exciting opportunities.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
1. Learn to iterate and optimize. Good strategy comes in steps, not all at once. As author Jim Collins says, “Fire bullets, then cannonballs.”
2. Avoid magical thinking. 99% of the time things don’t just happen by luck for you or the company. That amazing investor doesn’t come out of nowhere to write a big check. You don’t magically just get the big customer. You can’t build a business on hoping that magically there will be some big break. You have to build, block by block, the company you want to see come alive.
3. Persistence. Whether you’re seeking social justice, building a company or advocating for a cause, persistence often pays off.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?
At Rebellyous, we are building a new production system to make plant-based chicken available and affordable for everyone. Our new Mock 2 and Mock 3 production systems will be deployed in the next few months, and we’ll start producing products at parity with the price of chicken for kids in the National School Lunch Program in 2024.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. To begin, can you tell our readers a bit about why you are an authority on the topic of ethical animal practices? What inspired the decision to make your brand cruelty-free, and how does it align with your broader brand mission?
Anyone can be an authority on ethical animal practices if they respect an animals’ intrinsic value as sentient creatures. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to make the world a better place for animals and people and it follows that my work would reflect that as well. I’m proud that kids across the country have the opportunity to eat protein-rich, tasty nuggets and we intend to continue to grow in the foodservice market.
How would you describe the current state of ethical animal practices in your industry, and what sets your brand apart?
Plant-based meat still only shares 0.5% of the market in the U.S. It’s predicted that globally, we’ll produce the highest volume of meat on record in 2023, over 771B. Needless to say, there’s room for growth of plant-based meat. Rebellyous Foods is dedicated to making plant-based meat available and affordable for everyone. We do what no one else in the industry is doing right now. We design new and better manufacturing tools to automate food processing that makes plant-based meat at cost parity to conventional meat and solves the problem of high quality at scale.
Can you explain the process of obtaining cruelty-free certifications? Are there specific standards or benchmarks you adhere to?
The ingredients for a hamburger or a chicken nuggets, consists of slaughtering animals, removing skin or feathers, deboning and grinding muscle into hamburgers or nuggets. From there, they are seasoned with flavoring and sometimes have added preservatives to slow decomposition. Rebellyous Foods products are completely vegan, using no animal ingredients whatsoever. Our nuggets, tenders and patties are made of vegetable proteins extracted
from beans or seeds, combined with vegetable oils, and then seasoned with flavorings. They’re made with love, care and no birds — for people who like chicken and chickens.
What are the challenges faced when ensuring every step of your supply chain adheres to cruelty-free practices?
In order to mitigate challenges, we require that all our raw material suppliers provide us with vegan guarantee statements confirming that no animal products are used to produce or process the materials. Also, 100% of the soy we use is grown here in the U.S. where the process is much different from soy grown in Brazil, for example, where animal habitats are being destroyed at shocking levels.
In the absence of animal testing, what innovative methods does your brand employ to ensure product safety and efficacy?
Rebellyous’ products contain only products that have been used in food for centuries, and are generally recognized as safe to consume.
Beyond being cruelty-free, how does your brand incorporate other ethical considerations, such as sustainability or fair trade, into its operations?
The data is clear that plant-based products use less land, water and emit fewer greenhouse gasses than conventional meat products do. Overall, and by far, it’s a more sustainable way to feed billions of people.
Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Ways That Brands Can Redefine Ethical Animal Practices in Their Industries”?
- Stop using animal products altogether. There are more alternatives today than ever before from food to fashion and everything in between.
- Encourage others to stop using animals. When considering your supply chain, require animal free options or start a conversation around what that might look like.
- Prop up your choice to not use animals with media and advertising. Spread the word about your ethical choice and use it to your marketing advantage.
- Partner with other ethical brands and create coalitions. Typically, industries that don’t use animals also don’t receive the same subsidies, the same government support, grants and loan opportunities that the animal industry is afforded. It’s important for our future that we start to coalesce.
- Normalize meat replacement by making it the default choice on cafeteria menus.
How do you envision the future of cruelty-free practices in your industry? Are there any trends or shifts you anticipate?
We have to get to price parity if we want to see the plant-based meat industry thrive. We’re doing the hard work at Rebellyous by solving the big problems in manufacturing that hold us back from reaching price parity. Right now, plant-based meat is made with equipment that is used to make meat. It’s an equipment mis-match. It’s inefficient, labor and energy intensive and this wastes money. We created a continuous, automated system designed specifically for making plant-based meat. By perfecting the unique production techniques needed for plant-based materials, we are solving the problems of both quality at scale and price parity.
For brands looking to transition to cruelty-free practices, what advice would you offer? Are there any resources or tools you’d recommend?
Contact us! If margins are holding companies back from transitioning, our equipment is the key.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would create a movement of agency. Millions of people recognize they have complete control over at least three decisions they make every single day — what they put on their plate. To not feel constrained by their upbringing or traditions, to reflect on what they’re putting into their bodies everyday and to nurture themselves.
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
Check us out at Rebellyous.com and on social media @Rebellyous.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com.
Cruelty-Free Chronicles: Christie Lagally Of Rebellyous Foods On Top Brands Redefining Ethical… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.