Wytheville businessman to head company

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Wytheville businessman and entrepreneur Richard Formato is adding another title to his credentials. He is now president and chief executive officer of Blue Mountain Organics, a small specialized raw and organic food company in Floyd County.
“The company is in the right place at the right time,” Formato stated by phone earlier this week from his home in Florida. “It’s at the point it’s growing so fast. It produces over 400 different products.”
Blue Mountain Organics is known for such brands as Better Than Roasted, Blue Mountain Cashew Creamery, Love Raw Foods, Earth Chips and The Raw Bakery. Its products are sold at Whole Foods and Earth Fare retail outlets.
According to Formato, part of his job is to promote the products and expand the market into retail outlets across the U.S. The products, he noted, are made exclusively of certified organic ingredients.
“I truly believe in the company’s mission of sourcing, manufacturing and distributing the very best in raw organic foods,” Formato commented. “By expanding our market, we will help make a significant difference in the health and well-being of consumers and our environment. My job is to make the world care about Blue Mountain Organics.”
An article about the company and its founder Jared Mizrahi in an area newspaper caught Formato’s attention earlier this summer. Since the Roanoke native also has a farm in Floyd County, he contacted Mizrahi.
“I went to Floyd and we talked for three hours,” Formato said.
In a press release, Mizrahi stated, “We are extremely fortunate to land an executive of Richard Formato’s caliber to lead Blue Mountain Organics. Combined with his enthusiasm for our products and our mission, Rich’s achievements in driving success are unparalleled. We look forward to this exciting new phase of our company’s future.”
Formato also is chairman and chief executive officer of Sales Edge Service in Wytheville, serving the home-renovation market across the country. He is president and chief executive officer of LevelVision, a technology company that partners, designs and sells custom and commodity solutions for all floor-based digital media.
Formato said he plans to continue his graduate business degree at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Mass., in January 2011. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Asked about having time for all his business interests, Formato remarked, “It’s all about balance. My first priority is my family.”
He and his wife, Lori, have a 10-year-old daughter, Lily, and a 5-year-old son, Jack. Formato has been in Wytheville for 15 years.