John Bello is Chairman and CEO of Soup Kitchen International, a recently formed company that manufactures and markets the soups made by Al Yeganeh, the New York soup chef that inspired the famous Seinfeld “Soup Nazi” episode. Under the brand name Original SoupMan, the company is selling franchises and retail package soups nationwide.

Mr. Bello is also CEO of Firefighter Brands, a business he founded in 2003. The company markets products under the Firefighter brand name featuring a proprietary Maltese cross logo. Firefighter Brands shares profits with firefighter related worthy causes and activities through the company’s Firefighter Brand Foundation.

John Bello is the founder and former CEO of South Beach Beverage Company, the maker of nutritionally enhanced teas and juices marketed under the brand name SoBe. PepsiCo purchased the company, established in 1995, in 2001 for $370 million. In 2001, Ernst and Young named Bello national Entrepreneur of the Year in the Consumer Products category for his work with SoBe.

Prior to founding SoBe, Bello, 60, spent 14 years at National Football League Properties, the marketing arm of the NFL. As President, Bello is credited for building NFL Properties into a sports marketing leader and creating the model by which every major sports league now operates. During four years of service with the United States Navy, Bello achieved the rank of Lieutenant (Senior Grade) and received the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V for meritorious service on riverboats in South Vietnam.

Bello holds an MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College (1974) where he was an Edward Tuck Scholar, and graduated cum laude from Tufts University (1968) with a BA degree in history. I

He resides in Rye, New York with his wife Nancy and has three children: Lauren (28), Lindsay (26) and John Michael (16).