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BUSINESS PROFILE BUSINESS DONE RIGHT How Clif Bar Stuck to Its Gut and Built a Happy Company
the company was a certified Great Place to Work, a testament to the positive culture and strong sense of community Erickson has built. Clif Bar offers matching funds, and employees get PTO for volunteering — something that is encouraged as part of the company’s emphasis on giving back. Of course, Clif Bar wasn’t an overnight success. Erickson and his mom experimented and tested their initial product, returning to the kitchen time and again to adjust the recipe. They brought their bars to bike races and passed them out to friends. Then they went back to the kitchen until everyone’s taste buds were satisfied. The company faced an early lawsuit (fortunately, insurance covered it), and other hurdles presented themselves in the formative years. The grit and determination that it took to build Clif Bar from scratch are two of the qualities that explain how Erickson has created a company that sticks to its gut. The unique culture encourages a healthy and active lifestyle, plenty of community involvement, and a good work-life balance. Guided by the five aspirations that sustain their business, brands, people, communities, and the planet, Clif Bar puts people’s well-being at the forefront of its decision making. Employees are passionate about the company’s values and how they guide what they do every day, and it’s one of the main factors that ensures their contentment at work. As one employee shares about their values, “Clif Bar goes one step (or 10 steps) farther with the aspirations. They give life to everything we do and serve as a barometer for the success and decision criteria for everything we undertake as a company. Never before have I seen a company operate with such a higher purpose.” It hasn’t been easy, but whenever these values have been tested, Erickson has always returned to the “why” of Clif Bar. In 2000, eight years after Clif Bar launched — and amid the offer of a tantalizing buyout — Erickson was tormented by the decision to sell. At the crucial moment, he remembered what
it all stood for. “This is my life,” he realized. “It’s our employees, it’s my family. It’s named after my dad.”
Kit Crawford, co-owner of Clif Bar and Erickson’s wife, sums up the reasoning behind the choice perfectly: “The power of a lot of money can do good, but business done the right way is way more powerful,” Kit says. Making the conscious decision to turn down a lot of money, Erickson realized he would much rather continue the challenge of “business done right” than have money in his pocket. Governed by the five aspirations, he’s stepped up to the challenge. In 1999, Clif Bar lived out their core aspiration of Sustaining Our Brands by launching Luna Bar and later LunaFest, which is a response to women’s requests for a nutrition bar. It was the first of its kind in the industry and a clear winner. In 2003, Clif Bar began to use organic ingredients in their products, adhering to their aspiration to Sustain the Planet. Following the lead of companies like Patagonia, Clif Bar has onsite child care for employees’ kids, and it’s all part of their LEED Platinum-certified “green” headquarters in California, which shows their commitment to Sustaining Our Communities. In 2010, Erickson and Crawford gave 28 percent of Clif Bar ownership to their employees, demonstrating their core aspiration of Sustaining Our Business. Employee- owners enjoy perks like six-week paid sabbaticals after their 10th year with the company, onsite trainers, workout space, and paid gym time, clearly showing their dedication to Sustaining Our People. Reflecting on the journey and where Clif is today, Erickson thinks of the “happy nervous” feelings he experiences during an outdoor climb, like the intense one he did with friends up the side of Half Dome: “I never once thought I wasn’t going to make it,” Erickson says. “It’s the same way I feel about Clif Bar.” Erickson has brought that focus, determination, and optimism from his climbs and athletic pursuits to Clif Bar, and it looks like he got the recipe just right.
“This is really terrible. I can make it better.”
So begins many a great entrepreneurial journey. Some 100 miles into a grueling 175-mile bike ride, these also happened to be the exact words Gary Erickson spoke. Long before he became the founder and CEO of Clif Bar & Company, he was about to eat his sixth bland, dry, tooth-achingly hard energy bar, and he’d had enough. At the time, Erickson worked at a bike seat factory and moonlighted as a baker. Growing up, his Greek mother and grandmother taught him how to make delectable pastries, and those skills matured well, lending themselves to a burgeoning business Erickson named Callie’s Sweets and Savories, after his grandmother. Following the “terrible energy bar incident,” Erickson brought his experience as an athlete, his frustration at the lack of tasty energy bars, and his mom’s baking skills to the kitchen to create a bar that people would actually enjoy. Today, Clif Bar employs over 1,000 people and has given away over $8 million in philanthropic donations. Last year,
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