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 sustainable 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.

Neil is a leading expert in the national products industry with over 37 years of success building iconic brands for top companies. His expertise has been focused in retailing, distribution, brand marketing, product sourcing, product development and organizational management.

Neil was the CEO of Spectrum Organic Products, the leading producer of natural and organic culinary and nutraceutical oils, condiments, and essential fatty acid supplement oils in North America. Neil oversaw the daily operation of the company and led its double-digit annual growth in sales and profits. He also served as the driving force behind strategic supply-side management and new product development, launching an average of six new products per year.

Neil also served as the COO for Numi Tea, a leading organic and fair tea company, where he oversaw Finance, Operations, IT and Customer Service.

Neil is currently on the Board of Directors for the American Botanical Council and the Rudolf Steiner Foundation, Social Finance, and has served as Chair of the Organic Standards Subcommittee for Oils in the development of the Organic Foods Act of 1990.

Neil was born in South Dakota and received his B.A. in business management and economics from the University of South Dakota. He currently resides in Sebastopol, California.

Greg Peterson comes to Nutiva with over 30 years of food industry experience in both production and technical services for a variety of food categories. Greg has previously held roles with Publix Super Markets, Safeway Inc., Dryer’s Grand Ice Cream, Tesco – Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets, and Plum Organics.

Greg was born in Louisiana and received his B.S. in Dairy Manufacturing – Business from Louisiana State University, his M.S. in Quality Management from the University of Miami, and an M.S. in Food Safety from Michigan State University.

In his leisure time, Greg enjoys traveling, cooking, various outdoor activities and music.

Gabriela oversees the financial and information technology aspects of the company, which includes financial planning, analysis and reporting, standardization, process and system improvements, supporting all strategic and tactical decisions with the management team to drive business performance.

Prior to joining Nutiva in November 2014, she lived and worked in Chicago for 6 years as Senior Manager FP&A, Manufacturing Finance and System Solution in the corporate office of a multi-billion dollar public company overseeing various locations in different states. Gabriela has over 25 years of experience with private and public CPG companies in financial management driving planning processes, increased insight into financial and non-financial KPIs to drive business improvement.

Gabriela is an innovative problem solver and analytical thinker and loves scrutinizing and streamlining complex processes to make it simple. During her spare time, she loves to travel around the world to experience different ethnicities and to make new friends.

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.

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 People & Payroll Manager 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.