BERKELEY, CA (BRAIN)—Clif Bar & Company has begun selling family-owned common stock to its employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
Employees through the ESOP own 20 percent of the company, while husband and wife owners—Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford—retain the remaining 80 percent, according to a press release.
“All along we wanted to create a company where we would want to work,” said Crawford, Clif Bar & Company’s co-CEO. “Employee ownership is one more way we could run a different kind of business: one that inspires a team of people to make the kind of delicious, nutritious food we’d like to eat, and that strives for a healthier, more sustainable world.”
“Our company is our people,” said Erickson, founder and co-CEO. “By retaining private, employee ownership we will continue to have the freedom and flexibility to build a sustainable business with long-term focus for future generations.”
No change in management structure will take place, with Erickson and Crawford remaining majority owners and co-CEOs of the company.
Founded in 1992, Clif Bar & Company has greater annual net revenues than $200 million. The company currently has 239 employees and is readying for its move to a new green headquarters at 1400 65th Street in Emeryville, California, in the fall.
