Skip to content
MarketScale
‹ Back to IndustriesFood & Beverage

Advances In Manufacturing Makes Plant-Based More Viable But Will It Take Over?

After 15 years as a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry, Christie Lagally decided to utilize her skills to champion plant-based foods. Barbara Castiglia spoke Lagally, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at rebellyous foods, about her unique career path and why plant-based foods are so important to her. When Lagally first went to college she…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Food & Beverage teams put it to work with Customer Stories & Case Studies.

Promoted content from The Main Course on MarketScale.

Share

Get featured

Want to get featured in MarketScale Food & Beverage?

Create a free MarketScale workspace and get your company's expertise featured across our Food & Beverage coverage. No credit card, no demo required.

Request an invite

After 15 years as a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry, Christie Lagally decided to utilize her skills to champion plant-based foods. Barbara Castiglia spoke Lagally, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at rebellyous foods, about her unique career path and why plant-based foods are so important to her.

When Lagally first went to college she attended culinary school. She quickly learned that her gifts were not to be found in this space and went to a more traditional school eventually graduating with a Mechanical Engineering degree. She is now applying her knowledge to creating plan-based foods and making them more affordable to the general public.

When asked about her journey to today, Lagally explained that ending up where she is now is not as random as it might appear. Lagally has over 15 years of volunteer service for various animal protection agencies including a 7+ year engagement as a Washington State Council Member for The Humane Society of the United States.

“As an advocate, I was passionate about these issues because I care about people, I care about animals. I’d seen a lot of people in my family particularly either sadly pass away or just suffer very badly from diet-related diseases that we now know are heavily impacted by what we eat and how they can even be mitigated by changing what we eat,” stated Lagally.

She’s clearly passionate about the mission of rebellyous foods which produces plant-based nuggets, tenders, and patties that cook just like traditional breaded chicken products. The company has even been able to produce nuggets for the national K12 Food Service program allowing schools to offer a nutritious and cost-effective chicken alternative. An added benefit, plant-based foods offer a tasty treat without added chemicals and preservatives including antibiotics.

Moving forward, rebellyous foods aims to continue making plant-based meat better and cheaper by advancing manufacturing practices and technologies to bring its products to market throughout the U.S.

As Delivery Apps Spread, Innovating the Last Mile Remains an End Goal

E.U. Whiskey Tariffs Are Lifted, But the Industry is Still On the Rocks

The Main Course

Part of this channel

The Main Course

Where restaurant and food industry insiders talk real business.

Visit the channel

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Food & Beverage starts with a company putting its plant managers, quality leads, and R&D teams on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Processors and grocery buyers vet suppliers hard, and your operations people are the ones who can satisfy them.

Get your team featuredSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.

Follow Food & Beverage Insights

Get new expert content in your inbox.

Food & Beverage: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Food & Beverage buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. See how AI describes your company today, and where competitors show up instead.

Free workspace

You just read one Food & Beverage expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your plant managers, quality leads, and R&D teams into the articles, video, and social content Food & Beverage buyers are searching for. Create a free workspace and see it with your own people. No credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What you get, free

Your own MarketScale Studio workspace
One video edit a month, on us
AI writing, editing, and publishing tools
In-platform coaching to learn the system

More Food & Beverage Insights

Restaurants are buying more customer tech even as visits stay 7% below 2019

Restaurants are buying more customer tech even as visits stay 7% below 2019

U.S. restaurant operators are budgeting more customer-facing technology for 2026, with 60% prioritizing customer experience investments, according to the National Restaurant Association data reported by Restaurant Business. The push comes while average chain restaurant occasions remain 7% below 2019 levels, a gap Restaurant Business says has persisted even as kiosks, digital menu boards, loyalty programs, and AI tools proliferated. Bar & Restaurant’s reporting on high-volume staffing shows why the timing matters operationally: with labor still tight and peak periods exposing process friction, operators are trying to shift guest decisions earlier, improve scheduling discipline, and free managers to coach instead of firefight. The near coin-flip in consumer sentiment, 41% saying tech improves hospitality versus 38% saying it hurts, indicates deployments that reduce staff burden without making the guest feel “sent to a screen” will be the ones that hold up in 2026 traffic conditions.

  • 01A useful benchmark for 2026 tech budgeting: 60% of operators plan to invest in customer-experience tech, but that category only outpaces front-of-house tech (54%) by six points, so many programs will compete for the same dollars and implementation bandwidth, according to the National Restaurant Association data reported by Restaurant Business.
  • 02The metric mismatch is becoming a planning risk: Restaurant Business says kiosks can lift sales per transaction, but operators still lack a clean way to measure whether customer-facing automation quietly suppresses visits, especially when chain occasions are already 7% below 2019.
  • 03For high-volume concepts, the highest-ROI “tech” may be workflow discipline: Bar & Restaurant reports operators leaning on forecasting, clear labor rules, and centralized reservation and add-on decisions to reduce peak-hour conflict, which can make customer tech feel like convenience rather than a substitute for hospitality.

Sep 1, 2026

Outback’s 600-manager reset puts kitchen discipline back at the center

Outback’s 600-manager reset puts kitchen discipline back at the center

Outback Steakhouse brought managers from roughly 600 restaurants together for its first systemwide conference since before the pandemic, signaling that the brand is again prioritizing operational standardization as it works its turnaround. Restaurant Business reported Outback posted 1.4% same-store sales growth last quarter, its best in more than three years, along with improving guest scores and a higher mix of premium items. Two QSR Magazine analyses outline areas operators are focusing on: kitchen-equipment discipline through asset lifecycle management and total cost of ownership, and store design as a factor tied to repeat visits, with the National Restaurant Association estimating QSRs get about 71% of revenue from repeat customers. For multi-unit operators, the practical takeaway is that repeatable execution often depends on standardized specifications, maintenance data, and remodel programs that protect retention and throughput, not only pricing actions.

  • 01The return of large-scale manager conferences is an operational tell: brands are re-centralizing standards and training, which makes equipment specs, service models, and maintenance playbooks easier to scale.
  • 02For chains that still buy equipment on sticker price, QSR Magazine’s push toward total cost of ownership reframes procurement as an uptime and utilities decision, not a capex line item.
  • 03QSR Magazine, citing the National Restaurant Association’s estimate that about 71% of QSR revenue comes from repeat customers, frames store design and the in-restaurant environment as part of the discussion around repeat visits.

Sep 1, 2026

Sweetmore’s Fantasy Baking deal shows food M&A is buying plant capacity

Sweetmore’s Fantasy Baking deal shows food M&A is buying plant capacity

Recent M&A activity in the food industry emphasizes expanding production capabilities by acquiring plant capacity. Companies are focusing on increasing their production lines and sites to enhance fulfillment speed. This trend highlights the importance of scalable operations in the competitive food sector.

  • 01Food industry M&A is prioritizing the acquisition of plant capacity to boost production capabilities.
  • 02Companies are expanding their production lines and sites for faster fulfillment.
  • 03Scaling operations is becoming crucial for competitiveness in the food sector.

Aug 28, 2026

Explore More Food & Beverage Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Food & Beverage.

Browse Food & Beverage Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Food & Beverage and beyond.

Book a 15-minute demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512