Leadership Team
Our leadership team has more than 100 years of combined management experience in the nutritional industry. Here are a few of our top leaders and some of the expertise they bring to your product.
Robert Matheson, CEO
Robert has successfully built and managed five nutritional contract manufacturing facilities. He joined Protein Research as a partner in 1991, focusing on the expansion of sales, production, research and development, and quality control. Protein Research has many industry firsts- including partnering in the development of Power Bar. Which propelled Protein Research into its current position as one of the fastest-growing vitamin premix companies on the West Coast. Robert is still very much hands-on in the business, and instrumental in ensuring that Protein Research has all the certifications, state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, quality standards, and highly trained staff to compete for business anywhere in the world. He is the driving force behind Protein Research’s implementation of the latest manufacturing technology. Robert’s compassion for his employees has fostered longstanding tenures across the majority of his staff.
Ashley Matheson, President
Ashley‘s career at Protein Research began during college, with an inside sales position at her mother’s private brand “Body Ammo Nutraceuticals”; then a division of Protein Research. It was at Body Ammo where she was first introduced to and fell in love with the nutritional industry. After graduating with a BS in Business Administration and Marketing she moved over to the manufacturing side of Protein Research. She has since worked her way through every aspect of the business, including Purchasing/Supply Chain Management, Executive Account Management, Vice President of Operations, and now, President. It was in these multiple roles that she gained extensive logistical knowledge, negotiating experience, expertise in locating raw materials, supplier and vendor relationships, customer service, and operational expertise. The same contacts and relationships she established back when she began in purchasing are now close friends and essential to her growing network of trusted colleagues. In her current role as President, she continues to improve and expand Protein Research’s existing customer base and is constantly prospecting new opportunities for the company to help create the best value possible for clients and partners. Ashley is thankful for the mentorship of her father and CEO Robert Matheson, and enjoys the dynamic of working alongside him as well as PR’s executive team to create and implement the culture they believe leads to success; success in people, performance and overall growth.
Melissa Dethardt , Executive Vice President
As Executive Vice President, Melissa heads Protein Research’s Quality, R&D, Human Resource, IT and Finance teams. Her goals are to continue keeping the company aligned with providing: a safe environment for employees; quality of products that are above regulatory standards; and a customer experience that creates a long-lasting partnership. Melissa works hard to keep Protein Research’s IT systems and programs at a peak to keep the company moving to be a contract manufacturer at the top of technology. Continuing to learn from and develop Protein Research’s outstanding team of employees, Melissa is excited to be a part of this company and see what incredible prospects are around the corner. Melissa holds a BA in Communications from San Diego State.
Todd Spear, Vice President - Sales and Marketing
Todd is a results-driven sales leader with 20+ years in the natural products industry. He is a leading industry “first” in small business growth, new product development, product management, and sales and marketing. Before joining Protein Research, Todd spent 12 years in new product development, formulation, and marketing as part of the executive team launching and growing leading brands in the industry. Subsequently, he spent more than a decade in specialty ingredient sales at Nutrition21, where he became recognized as industry influencer/innovator and as the “face” of Nutrition 21. While at Nutrition21 he led the company as the VP of Sales to record sales, launched some of the most recognized sports nutrition brands into the market, and was part of the executive team that successfully sold Nutrition21 to RoundTable Health Partner. As the newest member of the executive team at Protein Research, Todd is excited to learn more about manufacturing from the inside.
Matt Galeazzi , Controller
Matt serves as the company Controller. Matt held a previous position as CFO for 3 years with Freeland Foods, during his time there he oversaw all areas of finance, risk management and HR. He assisted with the transition of a plant closure to migrate the company food production to a contract manufacturer and 3PL model. Prior to being CFO at Freeland Foods, Matt was VP of Finance and Corporate Controller at Aero Precision. He was a key contributor implementing processes to enable Aero Precision to scale its operations and integrating acquisitions. Matt has 35 years of accounting and financial experience at public and private companies in various industries. Matt earned a B.S. from California State University Fullerton. He brings a strong background and analytical thought process to the PR team. He is great at maintaining the important partnerships we have with our suppliers and customers.