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2024 WINNER: ALTERNATIVE CHANNEL

Just like an innovative new product formula needs the right ingredients—in exactly the right combination—so too does an organization.

So before you can fully appreciate the innovation of MamaMancini’s On-The-Go Cup line, it’s important to understand the scope of sweeping change involving Mama’s Creations Inc., East Rutherford, N.J. And it’s a story with several important chapters.

Company Co-Founder Daniel Mancini spent nearly 30 years in the garment industry until he left the sector in 2007. A natural at-home cook, it wasn’t long before he put down clothing material and picked up meatballs—starting with his paternal grandmother’s recipes. A near-immediate sale to Whole Foods’ northeast region launched him into commercial meatball manufacturing and in 2010 he even guested on The Martha Stewart Show. In 2013, MamaMancini’s Holdings Inc. went public on NASDAQ.

MamaMancini’s next shift came with the late 2021 purchase two sister companies: T&L Creative Salads, Inc. and Olive Branch, LLC, in Farmingdale, N.Y. T&L specialized in premium chicken meat offerings and salads; while Olive Branch specialized in premium olives, olive mixes and other savory products. The deals effectively tripled MamaMancini’s product line, doubled its operational footprint and extended it into the retail in-store deli segment with fresh, refrigerated products.

Not surprisingly, it was next time to expand MamaMancini’s leadership team and Mancini Mancini’s board brought in Adam Michaels as chairman and CEO. Michaels has 20 years of food and beverage industry experience with stops at Booz Allen Hamilton and more recently, nine years at Mondelēz International (leaving as VP, Head of Commercial and M&A, NA Ventures). Among other notable appointments were Eric Felice, a 31-year R&D/QA veteran, as Mama’s vice president of operations (2022); and Director Culinary, R&D Christopher Posner, CEC, (in 2024) whose culinary career includes roles at Pinnacle Foods and Mitsui Foods.