Clif Bar has been a team sponsor from the beginning. We love their product, love working with them, and love what they stand for. Today they were featured in the Wall Street Journal and here is a copy of the story on our great sponsor:
A Company Fueled by Athletes' Sweat
By MICHELLE WU
Gary Erickson first dreamed up Clif Bar while in the midst of a grueling 175-mile bike ride near San Francisco in 1990. Though tired and hungry, he couldn't bring himself to eat another PowerBar, then one of the few energy bars on the market. Figuring he could make something tastier, Mr. Erickson, then a bakery owner, came up with an original protein-packed recipe, named it after his father and launched Clif Bar in 1992. Today, Mr. Erickson, 52 years old, and his wife, Kit Crawford, 51, are at the helm of an organization that posts $235 million in annual revenue and markets itself largely through word of mouth. The Berkeley, Calif., company, which says it decided against a $120 million sale to Quaker Oats in 2000, says it plans to remain private, in part to keep the focus on its eco-friendly practices, such as sustainable agriculture and waste reduction. (Quaker declined to comment.)
Kit Crawford and Gary Erickson, the owners and co-CEOs of Clif Bar.
Q: How did you come up with the recipe for Clif Bar?
Mr. Erickson: I went to my mom's house, because she taught me how to bake. We went to work in the kitchen and 6 months later, we came up with 3 flavors of Clif Bar. When it hit the market people almost couldn't believe it was an energy bar because it tasted so good. Our first year we did about $700,000 worth of sales and we were in several bike shops and natural food stores around the country.
Q. How did you get the funding to grow the company?
Mr. Erickson: We ran it on cash flow. I worked out terms with everybody. I gave discounts [to distributors] and I asked for cash on delivery. I was able to stretch out payments with our vendors. To this day we haven't raised any outside capital.
Q. How did you get in stores across the country?
Mrs. Crawford: We went from bike shops to natural food stores and then we got into grocery stores after that.
Mr. Erickson: The whole area [of natural foods] has grown tremendously and we were right at the front edge of that. Now, almost every grocery chain has a natural food section.
Q. How have you grown so quickly, with minimal advertising?
Mr. Erickson: We talk to people at sports events such as bike rides, marathons, decathlons or skiing where they need the product. And we tell people to tell their friends. But the whole thing would have fallen apart if …we didn't love it.
Mrs. Crawford: We definitely chose not to advertise. It was kind of unconventional, and it still is. There's a social equity…when people use a product and talk to somebody about it, that is very powerful. And then those people talk to people, and it sort of exponentially grows.
Q. You have a motto of "Grow slower, grow better" – why do you want to grow slowly?
Clif Bar
Mrs. Crawford: In our business model, slower growth means natural growth ... so we can sustain the things we value. When we went organic [in 2003], that was a big risk. But by growing slowly, we could figure things out. Now, we've got around 30 million pounds of organic ingredients.
Q. How did more expensive organic ingredients affect your bottom line?
Mr. Erickson: We just hoped that by telling our consumers what we were doing, we would be rewarded. Since going organic, Clif Bar has grown by almost 20%. We were able to absorb the margin hit because we grew.
Q. Why did you decide against a possible sale to Quaker?
Mr. Erickson: Those years leading up to almost selling the company were the hardest years, with growing pains and partnership issues. [Mr. Erikson ultimately bought out his former partner in the bakery, Lisa Thomas.] At one point it seemed like the right thing to do. PowerBar was sold to Nestle, and Kraft had bought Balance Bar. I felt sick to my stomach. This was not the bike ride I had wanted to be on. I thought: I want to do this my way. So I listened to my gut.
Q. In retrospect, do you think you made the right decision?
Mr. Erickson: Yes. It's been better every year from that moment.
Mrs. Crawford: We really value the ability to steer the company and its values, and we just can't see that happening if we don't remain private.
Q. Last year, the FDA issued a ClifBar recall because of possible Salmonella contamination. How did you deal with that experience?
Mr. Erickson: Stuff like this can happen - no matter how good your procedures are. We were just honest with people. We returned every single call. We made sure everybody got an email back. We gave people coupons. You have to do the right thing, be honest with your consumers, with your retailers, the press, everybody. I can tell you firsthand, we had some of the biggest buyers from some of the biggest grocery stores say that no one has ever handled a recall better than Clif Bar. And that's all we needed to hear.
Q. What is your advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Mr. Erickson: First, you have to do something you believe in. I believed from the start that Clif Bar was a worthy product. Then, keep making it the best you can. Also, you've got to be humble about whatever you do—do not become arrogant, and always keep your ego in check. And never give up.
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