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.
Twenty-six years later, SAMBAZON® is the pioneer and category leader of açaí Globally and a recognized force in regenerative, fair-trade sourcing, with products in 30,000+ retailer doors nationwide and a growing footprint of SAMBAZON Açaí Bowls shops.
“Twenty-six years ago, we set out to prove you could build a great business while doing right by the planet and the people who make our products possible,” said Black. “This recognition belongs to our entire team — and to the açaí grower families in the Amazon who are the heart of everything we do. To be counted among the Pacific Southwest’s most visionary entrepreneurs is a tremendous honor, and a reminder of how far purpose-driven business has come.”
Now in its 41st year, the Entrepreneur of the Year program honors business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. It celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or raised outside capital to grow their company, transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to strengthen it for the future.
Regional winners were chosen by an independent panel of past winners, top CEOs and business leaders. Judges assessed candidates on long-term value creation, entrepreneurial spirit, purpose-driven commitment, and significant growth and impact.
As a Pacific Southwest award winner, Black will now be considered by the national judges for the Entrepreneur of The Year 2026 National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, where high-growth CEOs, Fortune 1000 executives and investors converge to shape the future of business. The National Overall Award winner will move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur of The Year™ Award in May 2027.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized the leadership of entrepreneurs such as Jason McGowan, Crumbl Cookies; Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn Corp.; Saeju Jeong, Noom; Allison and Stephen Ellsworth, Poppi; Jitendra Mohan, Sanjay Gajendra and Casey Morrison, Astera Labs; Shelly Ibach, Sleep Number; Howard Schultz, Starbucks Coffee Company; Holly Thaggard and Amanda Baldwin, Supergoop!; Jodi L. Berg, Vita-Mix Corporation; Michael Happe, Winnebago Industries; and Arthur Blank, Atlanta Falcons, The Home Depot and Georgia Force.
For more information please visit: https://www.ey.com/en_us/entrepreneur-of-the-year-us/pacific-southwest/overview
About SAMBAZON
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in San Clemente, California, SAMBAZON® (Sustainable Açai Management of the Brazilian Amazon) is the pioneer and leading brand of açaí globally. Built on a triple-bottom-line philosophy, SAMBAZON sources Regenerative Organic Certified and Fair Trade açaí directly from family farmers in the Brazilian Amazon, creating economic value that keeps the rainforest standing. Its portfolio spans frozen açaí packs and cubes, sorbets, juices and ready-to-eat bowls — available at grocery, club and natural retailers nationwide and at SAMBAZON Açaí Bowls locations. Learn more at sambazon.com.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 60 countries and territories globally.
The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where national finalists and award winners are announced. The national overall winner represents the US at the EY World Entrepreneur of The Year™ competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.
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