Next in Natural
Passionate team with award-winning experience uniting emerging organic and natural food and beverage brands with pioneer business partners to create mutualistic success
We are a Boutique Hybrid Private Equity / Venture Studio operating partner dedicated to scaling select emerging organic and natural food and beverage companies. Our mission is to build a better future for the planet and all that call her home with our products and symbiotic relationship focus. Our cross functional strategic Business Development, Marketing, Operations and International Trading team work from our offices in the USA, England, Israel and The Philippines
400+
YEARS OF COMBINED EXPERIENCE
250+
HOURS DEDICATED TO GIVING-BACK TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES
8320
VISITED ACCOUNTS ANUALLY
Billions
IN INCREMENTAL SALES GENERATED THROUGHOUT OUR CAREERS
Boutique
We are highly selective, working with only innovative mission-driven producer partners with a like-minded mutualistic culture and sustainability focused approach
Strategic Brand Development
We empower founders by uniting them with our passionate cross-functional team. Our deep experience in natural and organic emerging brand CPG engineering and scaling helps transform new companies into successful organizations and established organizations into category disruptors.
Business Development & Marketing
Our Business Development and Marketing teams work directly with key influential buyers in concert with our representation network to create fiscally sound strategies that generate excitement, drive trial, gain customers, and earn consumer loyalty.
Ecosystem
We have the highest reverence for all the good people in the world and apply The Golden Rule in all interactions with our Team, Customers, Producer Partners, Farmers, Community, Stakeholders and Mother Earth.
a venture studio hybrid
We invest intellectual equity and working capital in early phase Natural and Organic Food & Beverage entrepreneurs.
PLANT BASED
ORGANIC
PLANT FORWARD
PHYTNUTRIENTS
SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEM
Our team has 400+ years of combined experience finding, vetting, advising and propelling startups into category leaders.
HEALTHY LIVING. MISSION DRIVEN.
Our mission is to make the world a better, more sustainable place by raising the bar of our food and beverage landscape. We are driven to improve our planet by supporting a diverse range of entrepreneurs in developing transformative, profitable,
and mission-driven organizations.
Meet the Leadership Team
Jeff founded Gourmet Guru, NYC’s
first all-natural & organic CPG Incubator / Distributor. Guru became known as “the new company company” with Jeff co-writing the go-to-market strategies and/or business plans for small USA startups such as Chobani, Stumptown, and Hu and helped them launch and scale to become category leaders. Jeff later joined forces with UNFI to morph Guru into UNFI Next. Find out more at
Jeff enjoys his family time, kayaking, hoops, charitable endeavors and supporting local farmers.
Jeff Lichtenstein
Chief Executive Officer
Shaynne holds a Bachelor of Science
degree in Information Technology, with 15+ years of professional experience including a great run with Apple. Shaynne has worked extensively in team leadership, associate training, recruitment, telemarketing, research, SEO and social media management.
She is highly skilled in Customer Service & Technical Support and has worked in Quality Assurance, focusing on in-depth root-cause data analysis & reporting. At Next in Natural, she leads up the day-to-day operations and provides insights via data analytics.
Shaynne Ricarte
Operations Team Leader
Curt, who was born in California has
called Arizona home for many years now. He is a graduate of Northern Arizona University where he developed his teamwork, competitive spirit, focus and consistency on the football field as a linebacker. He spent a good part of his career at Smithfield where he grew the sales of 5 brands and thereafter has worked with smaller organic food companies, helping them launch and scale. Among his many career highlights, he considers the development of his team, and friendships he's built with his customers and peers among his greatest accomplishments.
Curt Bellar
Chief Business Developement Officer
Gregory holds a bachelor’s
degree in Business Administration majoring
in Marketing Management and has extensive experience in customer relations management and team training. As a Product and Process Trainer, he has led top brands to their success in customer service, customer experience,
technical support, and sales.
As a marketer, he is passionate about content creation, branding, customer engagement,
digital marketing in social media.
At Next in Natural, Greg leads up the Digital Marketing and Social Media Team as well as
our Trade Marketing and R&D areas.
Gregory Márzon
Marketing Team Leader
Entrepreneurship Creating Social and Eco Impact
We mentor and invest in an inclusive talent pool of entrepreneurs to better the next generation by empowering them to make healthy food and beverage choices. We have been widely recognized for supporting this mission: examples include receiving a New York City Business of the Year Award from Mayor Bloomberg, being named an Inner City 100 Business of the Year from Harvard University's Michael Porter, SBA family Business of the Year and being visited by British Parliamentary Members to learn how to best create great career opportunities in underserved communities.
Get in touch
Global Headquarters
240 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11249
Tel: +1 (718) 757-8569
Building symbiotic partnerships within the sustainable food landscape for a better tomorrow.