Career Highlight
Material Science
Developing Sustainable Bioplastic from Alternative Proteins (soy).
Developing compostable agricultural mulch film and compostable plastic used across Asia, France and Canada. (2014)
Presenting biomaterials research to King Charles. (2012)
Food Innovation
Replicating the micelle in dairy milk with plant protein to create better alternatives to cows milk.
Championing and innovating for senior health via daily beverage for gut-brain health. Taking on Ensure and Boost (2017-2021)
Climate
NASA: Winning world’s largest global science competition, leveraging NASA’s aerosol data to fight climate change and develop a tool for consumers. (2023)
About SARA
Sara Bonham
Sara’s career has centered around the intersection of health science, sustainability, and food/agricultural technology. Whether it be innovating bio-plastic packaging from plants that reduce waste across North America and Asia at Polymer Specialties International (brand name: EcoPoly), to developing sensory/texture processes that improve the functionality and nutrition of plant protein being incorporated into our food, Sara has been at the forefront. More recently, she won the world’s largest science competition put on by NASA for her work on climate change with food & agriculture.
For the past six years, Sara was the Chief Science Officer and Co-Founder of Perennial (closed it’s doors in Dec, 2021). Perennial was a progressive health science and food technology company that explored the endless potential of plant-based nutrition & data within plants to develop solutions tailor-made for longevity in health. At Perennial, Sara lead all food innovation, packaging, quality control, regulatory and manufacturing. Perennial’s products are available nationwide in the United States.
In 2019, together with her business partner, Sara launched Perennial non-dairy nutrition beverage that supports gut, brain, and muscle health, with the intention of reaching healthy older adults. This market is ripe for innovation, with only 1% of global focus on older adult health & innovation. The product is made 100% from plant-based inputs and leverages advanced manufacturing technology and to get a 15- month shelf life. Perennial to date has been featured in Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal and many other well-known publications.
Before venturing into entrepreneurship, Sara previously worked for General Mills in both Operations and Innovation (Packaging) and was a member of IndieBio, the San Francisco based prestigious biotechnology accelerator owned by SOS Ventures, with $625 million under management (only 15 technology/science companies are accepted from around the world, twice a year). At Indiebio Sara engineered plants to replicate the taste, texture and nutritional parity of dairy milk; an experience that is integral to Perennial’s formulation. This work was featured in Business Insider. To date, her work has attracted investment from Silicon Valley’s most prestigious investment funds to global e-commerce juggernauts.
Sara is a native of Canada, and graduate of McGill University (BSc. Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry) and holds a master’s from The University of Guelph (MSc. Biological Engineering). She has been recognized for her work, including being awarded “Fierce Female Founder” in Canada (Program of Communitech, Waterloo), and cites her career highlight to date as presenting research to Prince Charles and receiving investment from Amazon.