Ted Tieken has been appointed Chief Future Officer of Next In Natural, a company that specializes in bespoke operations for up-and-coming organic food and beverage companies. The company is excited to announce the growth of a new M&A division.
Jeff Lichtenstein, the company’s founder and CEO, expresses his excitement by saying, The natural growth of Next In Natural is a testament to the quality of our team and our products. Ted Tieken’s appointment allows us to strategically increase our portfolio by drawing on his experience as an owner-operator and scaler of better-for-you consumer packaged goods (CPG).
Tieken’s primary responsibility as Chief Future Officer will be to find and evaluate businesses to include under Next in Natural. Perfect candidates have $5 – $50M in revenue, ideally in the beverage and salty snack industries, and have entrepreneurs who are at a turning point in their careers. These applicants usually have a working product, but they need help scaling their business or reengineering it. According to Lichtenstein, that’s where Next in Natural comes in. Founders can focus on their strengths while we take care of the rest thanks to our special operating model.
Apart from his emphasis on finding and evaluating new businesses, Tieken will lead Next in Natural’s first round of funding, encourage the company’s investment in research and development, and offer operational direction to boost the expansion of the company’s portfolio companies.
Tieken was CEO and founder of Keto and Co., a company that sold baking ingredients, ready-to-drink meal shakes, and low-carb snacks, for ten years before he joined Next in Natural. He graduated from Harvard College with a degree in social studies and worked as a well-known analyst for McKinsey and Co.
According to Tieken, Next In Natural’s platform enables CPG founders to prosper in a setting that is innovation-focused and supported by an experienced team with experience launching and growing well-known brands. Our team have a special capacity to not only predict the direction of natural and organic products, but also to swiftly and expertly grow businesses to a sustainable state. To promote our goal of promoting organic food and drink throughout the world, we are eager to collaborate with the right founders and strategic partners.
Brooklyn, New York-based Next In Natural is a natural consumer packaged goods (NCPG) investor and operator that specializes in regenerative and sustainable agriculture. As founder and CEO of Gourmet Guru, which UNFI subsequently bought, CEO Jeff Lichtenstein has vast experience in the natural CPG industry, having helped develop and scale businesses including Stumptown, Hu, and Chobani, among others.
