EY - Pacific

Pacific

Jump to region:     Pacific  |  Prairies  |  Ontario  |  Québec  |  Atlantic

Learn more about Pacific’s regional winners, finalistsjudges and sponsors.

Congratulations to the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 Pacific Award winners!

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EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 Pacific Overall Award winners

Aisha Yang and Musharaf Syed | Herbaland Naturals Inc.

Purposeful innovators. Courageous risk-takers. Musharaf Syed and Aisha Yang believe everyone should have access to healthy living conditions. They founded health and wellness brand Herbaland to deliver on that promise for their family, and countless others they now serve.

In 2009, Aisha and Musharaf had two young children, a newborn and an entrepreneurial drive to build a business that could sustain their family. They’d immigrated to Canada in the hopes of providing their kids with a better education. They wanted to establish a business that would make a purposeful impact. Bridging from Musharaf’s job in supplements, they saw an untapped, niche opportunity in gummy health supplements — and developed a retail business to meet that need.

Aisha and Musharaf have had to pivot in the years since. When their sole supplier was acquired and instantly shut off supply in 2013, they faced a tough call: shut down, or dig in? Aisha and Musharaf chose the latter, taking out a line of credit, purchasing a gummy-manufacturing machine and transforming Herbaland from retailer to manufacturer.

The result? Herbaland is the largest nutritional gummy manufacturer in the world, producing and distributing 70 million bottles and pouches across 40 different countries every year. Five facilities and 200 people — many of whom are, or were, immigrants — fuel progress across business-to-business and direct-to-consumer lines. True to their purposeful roots, Herbaland is the world’s first B Corp certified nutritional gummy manufacturer.

Herbaland is deeply committed to giving back to the community that has supported them since the very beginning. With a strong emphasis on both community outreach and business growth, Herbaland unwaveringly upholds its dedication to future expansion.

  

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2023 Pacific Award winners

EY - Photo of Tamer Mohamed | Aspect Biosystems

Tamer Mohamed
Aspect Biosystems

EY - Photo of Mehar Pratap Singh | ProCogia

MeharPratap Singh
ProCogia

EY - Photo of Wendy Bennison | SAXX

Wendy Bennison
SAXX

EY - Photo of Michael Menzies | The Universal Group

Michael Menzies
The Universal Group

View regional winners for:    Pacific  |  Prairies  |  Ontario  |  Québec  |  Atlantic

  

Meet the judges

The success of the program relies on the efforts of our independent panel of judges. These past Entrepreneur Of The Year program alumni and civic and community leaders devote significant effort to review and deliberate the merits of each nominee. We deeply appreciate their dedication to this process.
EY - Photo of Ryan Barrington-Foote

Ryan Barrington-Foote
President
Jim Pattison Group

EY - Photo of Curtis Barber

Curtis Braber*
CEO
BE Power Equipment

EY - Photo of Geoff Chutter

Geoff Chutter*
CEO
WhiteWater West Industries Ltd.

EY - Photo of Abi Coman-Walker

Abi Coman-Walker
COO
Acuitas Therapeutics

EY - Photo of Kristi Miller

Kristi Miller*
Managing Partner
Krystal Growth Partners

EY - Photo of Maria Pacella

Maria Pacella*
Managing Partner
Pender Ventures

EY - Photo of Bill Tam

Bill Tam
Founder & Managing Director
Digital Technology Supercluster

 

Entrepreneur Of The Year Alumni

Meet the judges:  Pacific  |  Prairies  |  Ontario  |  Québec  |  Atlantic

  

National sponsors

Regional sponsors