Cheryl Mitchell is an American plant food scientist who created the HydroRelease milling process. She is the chief scientist at Elmhurst Milked and the creator of a line of plant-based milks. Mitchell started her career after getting her Ph.D. specializing in carbohydrate chemistry by developing Rice Dream rice milk for natural foods company Imagine Foods. In 2001, she left Imagine Foods, bought a research facility in California and spent five years working for herself and developing a process for creating plant-based milk that equaled the protein level of dairy. Her HydroRelease milling process allows anyone to separate the natural component of a grain, nut or seed before reassembling them into a beverage.