Welcome to Phytokana Ingredients

Chris is the Founder, President & CEO of Phytokana Ingredients Inc. and has over 25 years of business and leadership experience as an Alberta entrepreneur. Most recently, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Velvet Energy Ltd., a private company backed by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and private equity holders, including Warburg Pincus. Prior to that he founded an energy hedge fund and was the founding partner of a full service energy investment boutique, Tristone Capital Inc. A former officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, he is the Past President of the Royal Military Colleges of Canada Foundation. Chris holds an Undergraduate degree in Economics, with Distinction, from the Royal Roads Military College and a Master of Business Administration (Finance) from the University of British Columbia; is a Chartered Financial Analyst Charterholder (2000) and holds the ICD.D designation from the Directors Education Program.

Martin has 15 years of experience in finance, accounting, budgeting, treasury and audit. Most recently he was the Manager of Finance and Accounting at Velvet Energy Ltd., where his responsibilities included financial analysis, financial reporting, treasury and budgeting. Prior to Velvet, Martin worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Calgary where he obtained his Chartered Accountant designation. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) degree from the University of Calgary.

Drew is the Agribusiness Manager for Phytokana Ingredients Inc. and has over 6 years of experience working in the agriculture industry throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan. Most recently, he was the North American Agriculture Manager for Boortmalt, the world’s largest maltster, with a global footprint of 27 malting plants in 15 countries spread across 5 continents. Prior to his time with Boortmalt, he worked in grain merchandising and agronomy with Rahr Malting located in Alix, Alberta. Drew is a professional agrologist with the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists and holds an undergraduate degree in Agronomy, with Distinction, from the University of Saskatchewan and a Master of Business Administration in Food and Agribusiness from the University of Guelph.

Tyler is the Plant Manager for Phyto’s Strathmore plant protein processing facility.  Tyler has 18 years of operations and engineering experience in manufacturing facilities spanning fertilizer, upstream energy, downstream refining, and petrochemicals.  In those industries, he has filled a variety of roles including front line engineering support, strategic and operations planning, operations leadership and most recently as a technical services manager for a new design build facility in Alberta’s industrial heartland.  Tyler has led large operational sites with diverse teams larger than 200 people.  Tyler is a Professional Engineer with APEGA and has held Responsible Member duties at previous employers.  Tyler has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Industrial Systems Engineering from the University of Regina.

Todd is a seasoned international business executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience across agriculture, agricultural commodities, flour products, food ingredients, international trade, manufacturing, and supply chain development. Throughout his career, he has successfully developed successful market-entry strategies and distribution networks across both developed and emerging markets, and managed business operations across Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.

Frank is an internationally experienced executive specializing in agricultural products, agri-food manufacturing, ingredient supply chains, food processing, and global market development. His career has been focused on connecting value-added manufacturing with international distribution networks and long-term commercial partnerships across global markets. Through a broad international network, Frank facilitates business development opportunities, distribution partnerships, and market expansion initiatives for Phytokana’s ingredient portfolio.

Vincent has 40 years of capital markets and business expertise as an investment banker focused on M&A and capital raising.  Vincent’s Investment Banking career of corporate M&A and Financing included Managing Director positions at RBC Capital Markets, Tristone, FirstEnergy, and Burns Fry. Vincent has also been an active corporate director on boards including Velvet Energy, OSUM Energy, Venturion Oil, and the Aequitas/NEO Stock Exchange. Over the past seven years, Vincent has been active in the venture capital area as an angel investor, mentor at the Creative Destruction Lab, leading the UCeed Energy fund, and helping initiate the UCeed Haskayne Student Fund at the University of Calgary. Vincent worked with Chris Theal at Tristone and Velvet Energy.

Scott is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and a partner in MLT Aikins LLP. He has provided legal and business advice to food and agriculture companies for 30 years. An international legal ranking publication has consistently recognized Scott as one of the top food and agribusiness lawyers in Canada. He was also recently recognized as one of the Top 50 most influential individuals in Canadian agriculture. In addition, Scott co-developed and instructs Food and Agricultural Law at the University of Calgary College of Law.

Paul is an entrepreneur, having founded and built Hemmera Envirochem Inc., an environmental consulting and engineering firm that he expanded across Canada over 23 years before subsequently selling it to Ausenco in 2017. He has held various appointments over his career including sitting on the federal Sustainable Development Advisory Council, and the BC provincial Green Energy Advisory Task Force. Paul is a graduate of Queen’s University (B.Sc.) and also holds an MBA from Dalhousie University. He resides in West Vancouver, BC and gives back to the community by supporting the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation and the Family Services of the North Shore.

Parisa Fallahi has been a food and beverage innovation and R&D leader for over 20 years. Her work focuses on developing better-for-you, better-for-the-planet products and scalable food systems. She most recently served as Director of New Product Development at Beyond Meat, where she led novel plant-based product invention and commercialization across multi-channel and international markets, driving revenue growth, margin expansion, and platform scalability.
Her postdoctoral fellowship at the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center focused on enhancing food and energy security and the valorization of agricultural byproducts.
In addition to her industry leadership, Parisa advises early-stage companies on strategy, product development, and commercialization, with a focus on capital-efficient growth and portfolio optimization.
Parisa holds a PhD in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and an Executive MBA from Quantic School of Business & Technology. She is based in Southern California.