[Bak Picture]

ADAM M. BAK

Adam M. Bak was born in Poland in a small town set in the picturesque area of Beskid Zywiecki. He studied at the Academy of Economics in Krakow, and during his second year of study traveled to Sweden for a vacation. This trip proved to be a turning point in his life. The Scandinavian aesthetic enchanted him; he observed and compared. The confrontation with the economy of the "New World" shook him. He changed his life plans and decided to interrupt his studies to see Europe. He worked and traveled and, after a year, he went to Canada, where he worked and studied English.

Mr. Bak moved to New York in 1969. Settling here, he found work, started a family and continued his studies at Hunter College, achieving his degree in 1973. In 1975 he bought a deli in the Polish neighborhood of Greenpoint. The most important year in Adam Bak's professional life came in 1978 when he bought the company Adamba Imports International, Inc., which imported foods from Poland to the United States. At the time, the company had an annual turn-around of 20 containers.

Since that time, the Adamba company, which imports 450 food products and fine spirits from Europe, has grown to an annual turn-around of more than 30 containers and a sales volume of over $20 million. Ninety percent of its products come from Poland and the remainder from Germany, Scotland, and Bulgaria. Adamba Imports International is the owner of several trademarks: Vavel, Naturalis, Bak's, Adamba, and Tears of Scotland. In the USA it represents Amino, Wawel, Hussman & Hahn, and Wedel products. Its biggest marketing successes are the marketing of Luksusowa Vodka, Aronia juice concentrate, and Vavel products.

A trustee of the Kosciuszko Foundation since 1999, Mr. Bak is well known for his philanthropy to both Polish and Polish-American organizations and has been a generous contributor to the Kosciuszko Foundation's Annual Ball for many years. He served as Honorary Chairman of the Ball in 1996 and this year has graciously assumed the even more demanding role of Chairman.

From: Resume (2001)