From the looks of Clif Bar, you might actually expect business not as usual if you knew Gary Erickson, avid cyclist and outdoorsman, founder and co-owner of Clif Bar and Company, and of his journey to make it successful. Erickson traveled with a friend through the Swiss Alps biking only the white lines on their map (unpaved singletrack trails for cows and trekkers) to circumnavigate the traffic and inject more adventure. Many of the white lines ended up dropping off the alpine cliffs, but he was determined to stay the course, so they took other white lines.
That lesson, to seek adventure and enjoy the process despite the unknown challenges, forged his outlook beyond taking the easy path. So when Erickson decided at the last moment to not cash out for his share of $120 million and sell his empire to the competition, the logic was clear to him. He rebooted his company, asking his loyal flock to stay with him for the long haul, despite having to temporarily cut benefits and make bigger sacrifices to pay off debts: “I realized just before I was going to sign the papers, give up my life’s work and walk out with more money than I needed, that I didn’t have to do this, that I could keep working on my dreams despite the setback.”
The charismatic and athletic other half of the Clif Bar partnership (wife and former Clif bookkeeper) is Kit Crawford, also a bike junkie. She shares Erickson’s outdoorsy, bring-it-on straight talk, humour and resilience: “I’ve never worked anywhere where an owner asked us if we could all tighten our belts for a tough ride while the company paid off the debts. Gary has always led by example and with integrity, so not only did we stay on, but this challenge reinforced our desire to prove what we saw was lacking in the corporate world, which had less interest in its employees than with the bottom line.”
Cinderella Story with “Spin”
Like many highly driven individuals who have created businesses that realize a vision born from life experiences (see Erickson’s book, Raising the Bar), the easy way out would have haunted him. Erickson’s mother’s bakery and his own self-teaching led him to create Clif Bar, named after his father, Clif. Erickson soon realized that to trump the market’s offerings he had to create his own version of tasty, nutritional energy bars.
But it was no easy task, even when he succeeded in getting his energy athletic bars into the hands and mouths of his friends and, finally, into countless retail stores across the U.S. and less so in Canada. Another self-inflicted constraint was Clif’s commitment to have at least 70% of its ingredients certified as organic.
Nearby in wealthy Silicon Valley, where the money mantra is often void of a deeper stewardship (save status-quo charitable high-profile organizations), Clif Bar has a rock-solid goal with a tangible twist: why would a multimillion-dollar energy-bar company still care so much about sustainable ideas and projects and put so much, well, energy and money into fulfilling their perfect world goals of zero waste when really all they seemingly need to focus on is selling more bars, drinks, blocks and gels, to name just few products in its arsenal?
The easy answer is that Erickson’s vision tapped into a collective yearning for a company based on sound ecological “walk-your-talk” philosophy that has become the 21st-century template for an evolved business plan. Clif Bar’s employees are not your typical corporate clan, which I was reminded of as we toured through the maze of its retrofitted solar-powered headquarters (a former military-valve factory). The creativity and energy that propelled the company from Day One was still embedded in its synergistic pool to this day.
Kate Torgersen, Clif’s assistant communications manager, summed it up: “It’s never been just about selling the best energy bar on the market for us; it’s about sharing more sustainable ways a company works and plays, as well as connecting to communities. Otherwise we are just another for-profit company.”
The Clif Bar philosophy stems from a viewpoint based on five spokes supporting a wheel. It is called the Five Aspirations: “Sustaining your Business, Brands, People, Community and the Planet. Like spokes spinning a wheel, each aspiration directly affects the next, and you can’t balance well if one spoke is weak,” says Erickson. In corporate speak, the unique challenge for Clif was how it aligned this ethos with “sustainable profit,” gaining corporate attention by sourcing more sustainable methods from seed to shelf. Its aim for a closed loop on waste is so important that Clif still spends a sizable amount of resources to this end, rivaling its advertising and marketing budgets.
Beyond Benefits
Hearing Torgersen tick off the myriad employee perks and benefits, not to mention how many ways they could work outside the office engaged in socially responsible programs (and get paid), it became clear that the delicious part of this company is not just inside the wrapper.
With an environment of open cubicles including employee art gallery and a pilates/yoga/weightroom/hair salon/rockwall/massage/childcare centre down the hall, Clif’s working environment is a bucket list item for anyone who loves marrying their active lifestyle with a sustainable-energy food company.
If you had to pinpoint Clif Bar’s vision consider a challenging, larger idea: defining the 21st-century corporate template based on social responsibility and sustainability, not corporate spin doctors repackaging an old product namely for a boost in market share. Clif Bar has succeeded in dovetailing its product and practices while gaining worldwide traction eclipsing its spokes.
Can Clif Bar really help public corporate companies change by example? Not only is its template working, Erickson and other staff members head seminars for companies on how to implement a sustainable model for employers and their products, meaning how to adjust the company’s mindset so it continues to impact the environment less. Clif has aligned its ethos with profit-sharing, gaining attention by sourcing more sustainable methods from seed to shelf (i.e., organic grains, bio-diesel and re-purposing used wrappers into messenger bags).
Clif’s (non)Cookie-cutter Chef
How does Tom Richardson, Clif bar’s director of R&D, balance the nutritional and food vortex for athletes as well as the public without their burning out on the taste? “It’s a very stringent process: we use our staff and their friends – and their kids – along with our sponsored athletes and, frankly, anyone we know with a good idea and take it to the kitchen to work on it. We ask the athletes to battle-test it, as taste buds change during a strenuous workout, and we don’t want flavour fatigue to set in with those who use it for endurance training.”
The company’s success is in part due its people – one of the five spokes in the wheel. It’s full of environmental/athletic overachievers who not only bike together, but also build families here (many have met their mates at the company). Many are sponsored triathletes and cyclists encouraged to ride to work, with a $500-a-year bonus to upgrade their bikes, or if they drive, a $6,500 incentive to buy a hybrid or electric car. Clif also throws in a $1,000-a-year upgrade for home energy-saving improvements. This attention to the cycle of environmental use and waste is the backbone of Clif Bar’s sustainable programs.
When asked why not go public, Erickson shot back, “Why should we? We have exponentially more freedom and less stress. What we do as a private company wouldn’t make much sense to a board. Funding a Luna Chix Team or Luna Bar Short Films Festival costing over $200,000 a year makes most bean counters flustered, but in the end, it makes sense to us.”
The Edge is Near – Clif Bar’s Future
As Clif Bar works with several service and community youth programs, including cycling and gardening, I asked what the next level of commitment in sponsorship might be. The answer… surfing.
Pro surfing
Surfing? As our visit came to an end, we gazed at the open space of offices with surfboards and kayaks dangling happily alongside bikes like “casual” chandeliers, and it was an “ah-hah” moment: concern for cleaner oceans is a huge issue with Pro surfers, who’ve already formed clean-water organizations. Clif maintains its focus on the edge, and there’s no hint in its future that it will fall or misstep the white lines of another map Gary Erickson has retraced and traveled on so many times, so consciously – and conscientiously.
For more information on Clif Bar and Company and its programs, visit www.clifbar.com