SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., June 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ryan Black, Co-Founder and CEO of SAMBAZON®, was named an EY US Entrepreneur of the Year® 2026 Pacific Southwest Award winner. Black was selected among nearly 1,000 program participants that included 592 finalists across 17 regions competing for the title.
Black co-founded SAMBAZON in 2000 with his brother, Jeremy Black, and friends Edmund "Skanda" Nichols and Travis Baumgardner, after a surf trip to Brazil, where a single açaí bowl sparked the idea to introduce the Amazonian superfruit to the United States. The company's name — an acronym for Sustainable Açaí Management of the Brazilian Amazon — has guided the business from its first day: building a profitable company that protects the rainforest and the grower communities who depend on it.
Background and mandate
Why it matters
For industry operators, this is another data point in the structural change reshaping the food sector. Watch for follow-on moves from competitors and reactions from key channel partners in the coming quarters.
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., June 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ryan Black, Co-Founder and CEO of SAMBAZON®, was named an EY US Entrepreneur of the Year® 2026 Pacific Southwest Award winner. Black was selected among nearly 1,000 program participants that included 592 finalists across 17 regions competing for the title.
Black co-founded SAMBAZON in 2000 with his brother, Jeremy Black, and friends Edmund "Skanda" Nichols and Travis Baumgardner, after a surf trip to Brazil, where a single açaí bowl sparked the idea to introduce the Amazonian superfruit to the United States. The company's name — an acronym for Sustainable Açaí Management of the Brazilian Amazon — has guided the business from its first day: building a profitable company that protects the rainforest and the grower communities who depend on it.
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Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
