Nassem Ziyad

“I never forget where I started,” says Nassem Ziyad, COO of Ziyad Brothers Importing, headquartered in Cicero, Ill. That would be a little retail store in Chicago founded in 1966 by his late father, Ahmad, and his uncle Ibrahim, specializing in handmade pita bread and select Middle Eastern products.

In the 1970s, Nassem and his three brothers—Nemer, Nazmy, and Nezar Ziyad—worked at the store after school and during summer breaks. “When all the other young people were out there playing baseball, I was trying to learn social skills, helping customers find the feta cheese and put beans in a bag,” he says.

At any given Fancy Food Show, those skills are manifest as he walks the floor, talking to entrepreneurs, encouraging and advising them on new ideas and the pitfalls of running a specialty food business.

He should know. He and his brothers have built ZBI into one of the largest Mediterranean sales and marketing companies in the U.S. (the family’s original store closed decades ago). “The core principle to our business model is focusing on quality products from our family to yours, not selling something we wouldn’t take home to our own families,” he says.

ZBI imports hundreds of products from 28 countries, selling both premium brands and Ziyad-owned brands of hummus, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, stuffed grape leaves, Turkish coffee, rose water, toasted sesame seeds, and mango nectar, to name just a few. From his interactions with mainstream consumers who love the taste and healthy aspect, he sees only more growth for Middle Eastern foods.

“To this day, I handle all the consumer calls,” he says. “I take them very seriously and it gives me a pulse on the market.”

“The core principle to our business model is focusing on quality products from our family to yours, not selling something we wouldn’t take home to our own families.”--Julie Besonen