Cibo Vita CEO Named Entrepreneur of the Year in New Jersey

Published July 8, 2022

Emre Imamoglu CEO of Cibo Vita, right, accepts the award for New Jersey Entrepreneur of the Year

Emre Imamoglu, CEO of healthy snack food maker Cibo Vita, was named Entrepreneur of the Year, 2022 New Jersey Regional Award Winner, by Ernst & Young at an awards luncheon last month.

Entrepreneur of the Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. Judging was based on commitment to excellence, category diversification and innovation. Factored in the judging were applicants’ responses to questions such as:

Identifying opportunity to innovate and create a better world
Demonstrating courage perseverance and resilience to overcoming obstacles
Inspiring purpose, vision and taking risks
Identifying strategies for a sustainable future

Forty-two companies from New Jersey vied for this coveted award. As New Jersey Award Winner, Imamoglu is entered into the Nationals. National finalists and winners will be announced in November in Palm Springs, Calif., at EY’s Strategic Growth Forum.

Founded in 2009, Cibo Vita began by producing private label healthy snack products that consisted of dried fruit and nut combinations for supermarkets nationwide. Nature’s Garden, the company’s flagship brand, launched in 2011. BeHonest low-carb, low-sugar chocolates, launched in 2021.

The company mission is to continuously create innovative products that promote functionuality, digestive wellness and heart health, as well as offer products that are energy boosting and address a ketogenic diet.

Cibo Vita features more than 2,000 SKUs with various combinations of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, trail mixes and coated pretzels and chocolates. Cibo Vita products are sold in supermarkets, big box, drug chains, health food and convenience stores as well as warehouse clubs nationwide.

The company holds certifications for Keto, RSPO, UTZ, Kosher, Organic, Paleo and Gluten-Free. Its manufacturing, distribution, product development, warehouse facilities and corporate offices are based in Totowa, N.J. Since 2018, Cibo Vita has enjoyed a compound annual growth rate of 25.4 percent.

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