NoolaRed founder joins Regal Springs

Piana brings 15 years of experience in global business development, sustainability programmes, and stakeholder engagement across four continents.

In 2010, she started out as an assistant hatchery manager for trout at Dawnfresh Seafood in the UK before moving to Ireland in 2012 to take on the role of aquaculture scientist at Goatsbridge Trout.

From 2014 until 2020, Piana worked as a aquaculture and fisheries sustainability professional for Seafresh Group, UK — a role that was responsible for defining the sustainable procurement objectives and team procedures to deliver ESG-compliant food products to Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer, Aldi and Walmart. In this role, she developed the data collection and reporting framework for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions for all the company’s supply chains to report on CO₂/kg of product and carbon reduction strategies.

In 2021, Piana founded NoolaRed in England, where she developed the know-how and technology to grow crayfish intensively, before branching out with operations in Central Java and Jakarta, Indonesia, where the company is now serving the local export markets.

She holds two master’s degrees, one in marine biology from the Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy, and another in sustainable aquaculture and fisheries from Queen’s University Belfast, UK. She also holds a diploma in business management from University College Dublin (UCD).

She succeeds Benjamin Weis, who recently left the role to join Cargill. According to Regal Springs, Weis “played a vital part in Regal Springs’ sustainability activities during his time in the role and made strong contributions towards the company’s pioneering sustainability program. Moving forward, Elena will continue to advance this program — which is unique within tilapia aquaculture — and drive Regal Springs’ environmental, social, and governance activities to deliver a positive impact and the company’s blue food commitments.”