Startup Grind Co-Hosting w/ Boone Macaluso Parnters at UBS.

An outstanding example and supporter of American entrepreneurship, Tariq Farid is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Edible Arrangements International, the pioneer and worldwide leader in high quality, artistically designed fresh fruit arrangements. In addition, he has founded or acquired successful companies in the fields of technology, distribution and supply chain management and has established a charitable Foundation designed to support causes both at home and around the world.

He launched the first Edible Arrangements® store in 1999 in East Haven, CT. He was inspired by the convergence of three trends: Americans' growing consumption of fresh fruit, the robust growth in the specialty foods market, and the increasing amount of money Americans were spending on gifts. The first Edible Arrangements® franchised location opened in 2001 in Waltham, MA. The company has since grown to more than 1,300 stores worldwide.

Tariq was inducted into the Connecticut Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame in 2015. And in April 2016, was inducted into the Junior Achievement of Southwest New England’s Business Hall of Fame.