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Business Leaders

Mark Tilsen

President & Co-Founder at Native American Natural Foods
Mark Tilsen

Mark Tilsen is president and co-founder of Native American Natural Foods, innovator of the first national meat snack bar, Tanka Bar, and its extended line of healthy buffalo meat snacks. In 2007, Native American Natural Foods, LLC (NANF) launched the first meat and fruit bar to be sold in the natural foods category. The Tanka Bar has ignited the dried meat snack category in natural food stores across the country, prompting category leaders, such as Whole Foods and Natural Grocers, to move these snacks out of the meat department and into grocery aisles. This entirely new shelf stable meat snack category is growing at more than 25% a year. Tanka Bar is the No. 1 selling 100% Buffalo meat snack in the country and the first nationally distributed Native American natural food brand.

Mr. Tilsen and his business partner and co-founder, Karlene Hunter, also co-founded the Tanka Fund, a campaign to return buffalo to the lands, lives and economies of Indian people. In addition, Mr. Tilsen has more than 30 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, marketing community development, special events marketing and productions.