Gavan appoints Liat Lachish Levy as CEO
New CEO to scale sustainable animal fat alternative across Europe and global markets.
ISRAEL – Gavan, an Israeli food technology company focused on replacing animal fat with sustainable alternatives, has appointed Liat Lachish Levy as Chief Executive Officer as it transitions to full commercial expansion.
The leadership change follows the launch of Gavan’s first European production facility and signals what the company described as a shift “from technology validation to full commercial expansion.”
Levy succeeds co-founder Itai Cohen and will lead the next phase of growth, concentrating on scaling production, accelerating customer adoption and expanding partnerships with major food manufacturers across Europe and other international markets.
Levy brings more than 20 years of executive experience across fast-moving consumer goods, retail and food service. She most recently served as CEO of ChickP Ltd., where she led the company’s commercialisation and international expansion, established partnerships with multinational food companies and drove production growth.
“I am excited to lead Gavan into its next chapter,” Levy said. “Fatrix is a true drop-in solution that delivers exceptional functionality, and is already cost-competitive with conventional butter at current scale. Our vision is to make it the global industry standard in functional fats.”
Gavan’s flagship product, Fatrix, is a protein-based fat system made from vegetable oil, water and plant protein isolate.
The company said it is designed as a drop-in replacement for butter and animal fats, replicating texture and functionality in applications including brioche, pound cakes, cooking creams and cream cheese.
The company stated that Fatrix is already cost-competitive with conventional butter at its current production scale, a claim that may appeal to manufacturers managing ongoing dairy price volatility.
Fatrix contains very low saturated fat, zero trans fats and does not require hydrogenation.
Gavan’s newly launched European facility has an initial production capacity of hundreds of tonnes annually and operates on a modular model that allows incremental expansion as demand increases.
The company said its production approach requires lower capital expenditure compared with some fermentation-based or structured lipid alternatives, potentially improving unit economics and accelerating deployment in additional markets.
Board Chairperson Rony Patishi-Chillim thanked Cohen for his leadership. “I want to thank Itai Cohen for his dedicated leadership of Gavan and for laying the foundations for the company’s growth,” he said.
“Liat’s appointment reflects Gavan’s shift from innovation to execution. Her experience scaling foodtech businesses and commercializing functional ingredients globally makes her uniquely suited to lead Gavan as we expand production, deepen customer relationships, and build a category-defining fats platform,” he added.
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