NASFT Announces Inaugural Leadership Awards Winners

The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade Inc. (NASFT) has announced the winners of its first annual Leadership Awards honoring outstanding contributions to the specialty food industry and beyond.

The awards recognize NASFT members who have not only advanced food standards in society, but are also making a significant impact through visionary social, economic and environmental efforts. The winners are:

• Citizenship: Nasser Abufara, founder of Canaan Fair Trade, based in Camas, Wash. Abufara has worked to empower small farmers in the Palestinian olive oil industry and create economic opportunities in his native West Bank since 2004. The organization now works with 1,700 farmers and is the largest exporter of certified fair trade and organic Palestinian olive oil to the U.S. and Europe, and continues to expand education and micro-financing to further the industry.

• Business Leadership: Shawn Askinosie, founder and owner of Askinosie Chocolate, based in Springfield, Mo. Askinosie, a former defense attorney, has created a chocolate business that reaches far beyond single-origin bars to empower cocoa farmers and employees. Askinosie Chocolate sources all beans directly from farmers in Ecuador, Honduras, the Philippines and Tanzania, and shares profits. Locally, through Chocolate University, he engages young people to broaden their worldview and introduce them to entrepreneurship.

• Vision: Karlene Hunter, co-founder and chief executive, Native American Natural Foods, based in Kyle, S.D. A member of the Oglala Sioux tribe, Hunter has spent more than 25 years working on educational and economic development on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. She launched Native American Natural Foods with business partner Mark Tilsen in 2007 to produce Tanka Bars, a jerky with bison and cranberry that is made on the reservation, providing economic opportunity to one of the most impoverished areas in the U.S.

“The specialty food industry is driven by passionate entrepreneurs who are seeking to make a positive impact on society, whether in their own community, or beyond. The individuals selected for our first annual Leadership Awards each demonstrate extraordinary efforts that go far beyond creating great food,” said Ann Daw, NASFT president.

The awards will be presented at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco on Jan. 22. Nominations for the Leadership Awards were made by members of the NASFT and others in the specialty food industry. A panel of specialty food professionals and industry influencers selected the Leadership Awards honorees from 67 nominations.

The judges included Haven Bourque, founder of HavenBMedia, Oakland, Calif.; Christine Bushway, executive director and CEO, Organic Trade Association, Washington, D.C.; Irene Hamburger, vice president of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, N.Y.; John Raiche, vice president of marketing, UNFI, Providence, R.I.; Erin Roach, director of recruitment and marketing, Social Venture Network, San Francisco; and Errol Schweizer, senior global grocery coordinator, Whole Foods Market, Austin, Texas.

Honorable mentions went to the leaders of three specialty food companies: Citizenship: Amit Hooda, chief executive of Heavenly Organics, based in Fairfield, Iowa; Business Leadership: Allison Hooper and Bob Reese, co-founders of Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, based in Websterville, Vt.; and Vision: Alex Whitmore, founder of Taza Chocolate, Somerville, Mass.