Season 2 of Leverage Storytelling, presented by Tunheim, continues with a standout Episode 2 featuring Tyler Lorenzen, CEO of Puris, the Minnesota/Iowa-based plant protein leader. 

A former National Football League quarterback-turned-tight end, Tyler jokes that “NFL” stands for Not For Long. After retiring from pro football, he returned home to run his family’s agricultural business and helped scale it into one of the world’s most important plant-based protein platforms. 

In this candid conversation with Arick Wierson, they dig into: 

• The surge, and cooling, of plant-based meats 

• Why interest in plant-based protein supplements never really went away 

• The difference between consumer hype cycles and long-term nutritional demand 

• The coming rise of “clear proteins” ingredients that could soon power everything from Red Bull and Celsius to Coca-Cola 

The plant-based meat category may have boomed and corrected. But the underlying demand for functional, sustainable protein? That’s remained durable and in many ways, is just getting started. 

This episode is about reinvention, market timing, and building enduring businesses beyond the headlines.