Analyst Comment
Rami Jokela appointed as future CEO of Solar Foods
Translation: Original published in Finnish on 1/31/2025 at 7:05 am EET.
The change of CEO seems to be a logical decision as Solar Foods moves from the product development phase to the commercialization phase, which requires a different set of skills from the CEO. Jokela's background in brand businesses and extensive experience in scaling international businesses make him, on paper, the right choice for the current stage of the group's development.
Jokela seems to be the right person to drive Solar Foods' current strategy
Solar Foods announced on Thursday that it has appointed Rami Jokela as the company's new CEO, effective April 1, 2025. Jokela joins Solar Foods from the Körber Group, where he was Chief Sales Officer. In this role, he reformed the company's go-to-market strategy and consolidated the company's brand portfolio under one brand.
At Solar Foods, Jokela will initially focus on growing the business in the Health & Performance Nutrition segment, particularly in the US, implementing a conceptual sales model, increasing product price points and expanding the capacity of the Factory 01 production facility. He is also responsible for implementing the phased investment plan for Factory 02. Taking into account Solar Foods' recently updated strategy and current stage of development. Given his background, we believe that Jokela is a very suitable choice to succeed the current CEO, Pasi Vainikka.
Baton passed in agreement with the current CEO
Pasi Vainikka will continue to work for Solar Foods until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition of CEO responsibilities. Vainikka has been CEO of Solar Foods since its inception. Founded in 2017 under Vainikka's leadership, Solar Foods has, among other things, become a leader in the global cellular economy by making Solein available to consumers in Singapore and the US, built a demonstration plant to prove the scalability of the product's manufacturing process, and listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. It is our understanding that the CEO responsibilities will be transferred to Jokela in full agreement to support the objectives of the current strategy period.
Solar Foods established in 2017 is a global leader in sustainable protein production, solving the global food production problem by offering a completely new alternative to existing animal and plant proteins. Solar Foods’ first product is the naturally occurring single-cell protein Solein®, which can be used as a food raw material with high protein content. In the long run, Solein production will improve global availability of protein and increase price and quality stability of food raw materials by disconnecting food production from agriculture.
Read more on company pageKey Estimate Figures20.12.2024
| 2023 | 24e | 25e | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2.0 |
| growth-% | 49.8 % | 1,334.5 % | 2,208.9 % |
| EBIT (adj.) | -6.8 | -6.0 | -7.8 |
| EBIT-% (adj.) | -113,419.2 % | -6,945.8 % | -393.8 % |
| EPS (adj.) | -0.37 | -0.30 | -0.35 |
| Dividend | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Dividend % | |||
| P/E (adj.) | - | neg. | neg. |
| EV/EBITDA | - | 38.7 | 46.4 |
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