Mission & Values Our Mini-festo

John founded Nutiva in 1999 to create a better food system that nourishes people, communities and our planet. As a vocal challenger of the industrial food system, he is a strong advocate for hemp agriculture, GMO labeling, organic farming and healthy food for all. Through his leadership, Nutiva has been named one of Inc. Magazine’s fastest-growing food companies in America for five consecutive years.

John is a keynote speaker on sustainability, trends in the organic food industry, purpose-driven companies and the impact of genetically engineered food. He has founded four nonprofit groups including GMO Inside and the Nutiva Nourish Foundation, which donates 1% of Nutiva’s sales to support regenerative agriculture and other environmental programs.

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Steven Naccarato was a pioneer in the development of organic virgin coconut oil as a successful mass consumer product, helping to launch Nutiva’s coconut oil product line in 2002. His technical expertise not only helped to overcome the packaging and seal security issues inherent in the manufacture of this product, but was also instrumental in developing and maintaining the primary supply from the Philippines.

In the 30+ years of food & supplement experience, Steve’s evident ability to develop strong businesses, client relationships, and products has culminated in the development of 400+ new products and packaging, including private label items for many major retailers, distributors, and health and nutrition brand owners. Results-oriented, he has also successfully negotiated custom packaging contracts with major multi-national companies.

Steven is grateful to be a part of the health and wellness community offering organic regenerative foods. When he isn’t traveling around the world he enjoys spending time with his four boys in Canada.

Steve is an experienced leader with a demonstrated and successful history of working in the better-for-you, natural/organic CPG industry. He has successfully developed channel strategies, built out team structure as well key account development across all channels of trade. With over 25 years of industry experience, he is a strong and balanced professional sales leader with BBA and MBA graduate degrees from Western Michigan University.

When not busy helping to build iconic brands, Steve likes to spend his downtime with family and friends preparing amazing meals, traveling, and enjoying all the beauty that the California lifestyle has to offer like hiking, surfing, biking, boating, and golfing.

Chris is an experienced brand builder in the health & wellness industry with a track record of success over twenty+ years. From pioneering startups, to leading transformational change, to acquisition, he has had an impact on 100s of brands, across multiple categories, in all channels of trade. He has built lasting relationships at every stage of the supply chain and is as comfortable in the warehouse as in the board room. He has key expertise in building brand strategies, including developing pricing, distribution and trade marketing plans for large diverse brand portfolios and the focused, flawless execution of the plans.

Chris was a pioneer in successfully bringing high protein nutritional supplements to the market in the late 1990’s and a prominent figure expanding distribution of low carbohydrate foods and leading brands to natural and mainstream retailers.

As Director of Sales for a leading health & wellness brokerage Chris structured and lead a large sales team through significant and dynamic growth of the business, through to successful acquisition by NSS\Acosta.

Chris feels so fortunate to have been a part of such an incredibly successful growth journey, having the opportunity to meet literally 100s of influential business entrepreneurs and leaders in the health & wellness industry.

Chris is thrilled to lead Nutiva’s global sale’s effort, help spread the word and support the regenerative ag movement and revolutionize the way the world eats.

When not immersed in the business Chris is family focused and enjoys the outdoors, reading and playing scrabble.

John brings over 27 years of food industry experience that includes international business development, nurturing emerging growth initiatives, and leading high caliber operations. Most recently, John was CFO of Manitoba Harvest. In addition, John was CFO and Co-Founder of 301 INC, (General Mills’ industry leading business development incubator) and the Division CFO for Small Planet Foods, (the natural and organic business for General Mills). His global experience also includes leading teams in Switzerland, the Philippines, and opening new markets in Australia, and China.

John holds a BS in Accounting and an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and is a Certified Public Accountant (Inactive). John mentors high school students and helps educators teach economics and personal finance.

John is thankful to be a part of a purpose driven organization that is focused on improving the health and well-being of the community. John and his wife spend most of their free time trying to keep up with their two very active teenagers. John enjoys travel, hiking, fishing, and biking.

Anne has a proven track record of leading emerging and established brands to incremental growth through strategic marketing programs and with new product development. She joins Nutiva from Manitoba Harvest, where she led marketing campaigns for product launches across five categories, built powerful e-commerce and direct-to-consumer platforms, and more. Prior to her time at Manitoba Harvest, Thompson spent eight years at General Mills where she led innovation across a variety of natural and organic food brands.

Anne’s commitment to making a positive impact in the world started early. After beginning her career in the non-profit sector, she then went to business school and fell in love with food marketing. Anne now brings her passion to furthering Nutiva’s commitment to making a positive impact on people and the planet, while building a team and a culture where everyone feels supported and challenged to reach their full potential.

Caroline is a cross-functional team leader bringing nearly 10 years of manufacturing experience from dynamic CPG environments. Caroline oversees all facets of Nutiva’s end to end supply chain, including Master Scheduling, Co-packer Management, Capacity and Constraint Management, Procurement, Order Fulfillment, and Logistics.

Caroline graduated with a BA in Biological Anthropology along with a Certificate of Purchasing and Supply Chain Management from University of California, San Diego and is an APICS member. She enjoys traveling the world in search of rare fruits and rock climbing.

Prapti Rana is the Director of People & Culture at Nutiva, with the responsibility of heading all People & Culture activities.  Prapti’s mission is to uphold Nutiva’s pillar of ‘placing our people first’ and maintaining Nutiva’s core value of recognizing and rewarding all team members.

Prapti’s background is in public accounting and tax, receiving her BS from Sonoma State University in Business, with a concentration in Accounting.  She promotes Nutiva’s core value of well-being by exercising daily with her dog Louie.

Dave Ringot comes to Nutiva with over 20 years of experience in Information Technology. In addition to food production, Dave has worked in a variety of manufacturing environments including biotech, cosmetics & skin care, and engineered motion systems. Dave’s strengths include integrating enterprise systems, metrics and data analytics, and business intelligence systems. He joined Nutiva in December of 2012.

Dave is a native Californian, and currently resides in the East Bay with his wife and two children. In his leisure time, Dave enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, photography, and playing golf.