CLIF BAR & Co.
Alana Sherman
Amber Haddad
Izzy Poulin
Natalie Halabuk*
*In charge of formatting/pulling together sections of paper
Our group name is the Lean Green Fighting Machines. We all have an interest in the
environment and how the consequences of human actions are now beginning to affect the business
industry. In our case study we examine the business CLIF Bar and Company and the green initiatives
they are taking on a strive to become an ever more natural and ecofriendly company. We decided to
do CLIF Bar for our project because it is an already natural product that has been taking on initiatives
over the last 13 years to become even more sustainable. We wanted to see for ourselves the
strengths and weaknesses of this company since we eat their product. Learning about a company
that you are familiar with can help to better your understanding of similar markets.
Intro/Background/Context (Alana & Natalie):
CLIF Bar and Company was founded by bicyclist enthusiast Gary Erickson. On a long, 175-mile
day bike ride in 1990, Gary became tired of the same old boring PowerBars and decided he could
create something better. Being a former baker, he went into his kitchen upon returning home to
create an all-natural, organic energy bar recipe of his own. With the help of his family he perfected
the bar and debuted it at a bike show in 1991. His bars, 3 flavors at that time, were a success and he
ended up making over $700,000 that first year. By 1997 revenue had already exceeded $20 million
and in 2006 CLIF Bar hauled in revenue of $150 million. In 2010 CLIF Bar and Company were offered
$120 million to sell to Quaker Oats, which they turned down.
CLIF Bar is a mid-sized company with about 400 employees. They call themselves a private,
family and employee-owned company. It is co-owned by Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford, alongside
their CEO Kevin Cleary. CLIF Bar is based out of Emeryville California; their product is sold all over
the United States. The company departs from the traditional mission statement and follows what they
call The Five Aspirations. They see themselves on a constant journey with room to improve in any
area. The Five Aspirations start with sustaining their business by investing long-term and operating a
resilient company. Through integrity, quality and authenticity they sustain their brand. They pride
themselves on their employees by saying “our Company is our people” thus making it clear the
importance of sustaining their people. Both locally and globally they strive to sustain their community
through the promotion of health and sustainability. Last but not least, they recognize the importance
of sustaining our planet by “growing a business that operates in harmony with natures laws” and by
conserving and restoring resources.
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Their original product is the chocolate chip flavored CLIF Bar, which is a wholesome, organic,
and nutritious energy performance bar. The bars are made using organic ingredients including
roasted soybeans, soy rice crisps, and soy flour. Each bar has the same basic ingredients but also
includes its own unique ones to create a variety of flavors. Athletes are the main consumers of CLIF
Bars because it is a product made to provide nutrition and energy; the product was originally sold in
bike shops.
Erickson stands mute on the company’s profits. He states too much talk about the bottom line
would detract from CLIF Bar’s stated mission to serve loftier goals. CLIF Bar is a Sustainability
Journey Stage 5 company due to the fact that they are a green business not because it makes them
successful, but because they know it is the right thing to do.
CLIF Bar is also currently striving toward zero waste which started when their office switched to
recycled paper; they set up desk-side recycle bins and they discouraged disposable dishes, offering
more planet-friendly options.
Scope (Amber):
We will be tracing the emissions, energy, and waste footprints related to the extraction,
production, distribution, and waste stages of the life cycle assessment for one 2.4 oz. chocolate chip
CLIF Bar produced in the Twin Falls, Idaho bakery and distributed to the University of Redlands Plaza
in Redlands, California. Here it will be purchased and consumed by a member of the target
demographic, which includes students approximately aged 18-26. This consumer will most likely be a
student athlete, or a student living an active, healthy lifestyle, and engaging in activities such as
cycling, running, or mountain climbing.
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Flowchart (Natalie):
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Product Life Cycle Assessment (Amber and Izzy):
Extraction
The top 3 ingredients used in a Chocolate Chip CLIF Bar are Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Barley
Malt Extract, and Organic roasted soybeans. The environmental impact of these ingredients is as
follows:

Organic Brown Rice Syrup: Brown rice is a sustainable crop in that it goes through very little
processing, just needing to be dried after harvesting. The green house gas emissions that
result from harvesting this brown rice is approximately 1.6 kilograms of CO2 per unit mass.
There was no data available showing how much brown rice syrup is used per Chocolate Chip
CLIF Bar.

Barley Malt: The process of producing barley malt creates .21 lbs of CO2

Soybeans: On average, soybeans farming uses 3590.05 MJ/ha of energy, this number is
calculated by adding both material and energy inputs.
When it comes to the packaging of CLIF Bars, they produce the wrapper and the caddy that the
bar is transported and displayed in. The environmental impacts of these packaging items are as
follows:

Caddies: Made from 100% recycled paperboard, which uses approximately 31,500 kW of
energy to make.

Wrappers: CLIF Bar wrappers are made of flexible polypropylene plastic with a layer of
aluminum in between. Polypropylene is 100% recyclable, it produces less solid waste and
significantly less CO2 equivalents by weight than other polymer plastics with 3456 Kg CO2
eq/Tonne. Emissions from aluminum production numbers that have been reported for
uncontrolled gases for smelters are: 20-80 (kg/t). An aluminum smelter produces 40-60 kg of
mixed solid wastes per ton of product.
Production
The bar making process is as follows: first the main ingredients are mixed together with water
using an industrial sized mixer. The mixture is baked and then laid on a table evenly and goes
through a “cooling” machine process, where it is cooled. Next, the bar is taken out of the cooling
machine and drizzled with chocolate. Finally, the bar sheets are cut and ready to be
wrapped. Specifics on the emissions and energy use of chocolate chip CLIF Bars production were not
available, but on average, manufacturing facilities use 95.1 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and
536,500 Btu of natural gas per square foot annually. Their smart solar array was the first installed in
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North America that provides over 500 kWh and provides the majority of their electricity and 70% of
their hot water. The breakdown of the distribution of energy use in a production facility is shown in
the pie chart below.
Distribution
To transport a chocolate chip CLIF Bar from the bakery in Twin Falls Idaho, to the distribution
center in Emeryville California, to its final destination of the Plaza shop at the University of Redlands,
it will travel a total of approximately 1,098 miles. As fleet emissions for big rigs assume an average of
5.4 mpg, and the emissions factor is 22.2 lbs CO2 per gallon of diesel consumed, we can assume the
total amount of CO2 emissions for this transportation to be approximately 4,514 lbs of CO2. CLIF Bar
calculated total CO2 emissions generated by shipping from the bakeries to their customers for all
products for a whole year to be approximately 3550 tons. As displayed in the pie chart below, ground
freight transport is the most significant component in CLIF bar’s carbon footprint, followed by energy
used to power the bakery and produce the CLIF bar.
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Waste
75% of wrappers are up-cycled through CLIF Bar’s partnership with Terracycle to be made
into other products and recycled products made by Terracycle can be sent back to them to be
recycled again. Up-cycling through Terracycle uses less emissions than standard recycling
procedures. While a pencil case made with Recycled HDPE plastic creates approximately 37 lbs of
CO2 compared to 26 lbs. of CO2 when made with up-cycled candy wrappers.
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SWOT Analysis (Amber & Izzy)
Modified SWOT (Energy)
Environmental Challenges
Internal
Weaknesses
 A lot of energy used to get products
to where they need to go.
 Their programs can be costly.
Strengths





Product does not need to be refrigerated
therefore saving energy.
Solar panels on roof of their office.
Cool Car Incentive Program: Helps
employees buy electric, hybrid, or
biodiesel car.
Cool Commute Program: rewards
employees who bike, walk, or take public
transportation.
Cool Home Program: annual funding to
help employees make energy upgrades
to their home.
External Opportunities
 Their goal, “Think Like a Tree” is to bake
their goods with clean, renewable energy
at some point.
 Still have room to improve in their offices
and ‘kitchens’ to help conserve energy.
Positives
Threats
 Other companies following the same
energy goals as them and taking
away their customers.
Negatives
Modified SWOT (Waste)
Environmental Challenges
Internal
Weaknesses
Strengths
 Waste created from the product is the
 Office use recycled paper and recycle
bins.
whole wrapper. It isn’t biodegradable
 Boxes that contain bars are made from
and therefore ends up in our dumps.
100% recycled paperboard.
 Stopped using shrink-wrap on their
caddies.
External Opportunities
 Waste Management: Developing
product packaging that is
biodegradable to further
environmental friendliness.
Positives
Threats
 Adding more waste to landfills.
Negatives
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Modified SWOT (Pollution)
Environmental Challenges
Internal
Strengths
 CLIF Bar and Company is
committed to sourcing
ingredients that are organic
and non-GMO, which puts
much less pollutants into the
environment.
External Opportunities
 Air pollution: Investing in ECOTANKVAN can reduce huge
amounts of carbon emissions
as compared to the traditional
tanker.
 Their goal, “Think Like a Tree”
and to transport their product
in a non-polluting way. (It’s
their model for thinking
sustainably.)
Positives
Weaknesses
 Sold all over the country,
causing high CO2
emissions that depletes
our ozone layer.
Threats
 Climate change: Growth
increases GHG.
Negatives
Stakeholder Map & Analysis (Alana & Natalie):
I.
Rulemakers & Watchdogs

(Government) We encourage companies to take green initiatives through their
regulations. CLIF Bar and Company have taken great strides through their use of solar
panels to reduce their cost of electricity significantly. CLIF Bar is a company that is
constantly monitoring and bettering their ecological footprint. We have regulations in
place to ensure that food production companies make products that are safe for people
to consume. The FDA is in charge of these particular regulations, some of which are
Food Safety and Food Labeling. CLIF Bar is an FDA approved product, which means it
follows all of the FDAs regulations. All their ingredients are from suppliers that don’t use
pesticides per EPA regulations. We also have regulations on energy use and carbon
emissions.

(NGOs) Our mission at One Percent for the Planet is to create an alliance of business
committed to creating and sustaining a healthy planet. We work to connect businesses
with consumers and non-profits in order to empower all of us to strive for change. We
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have more than 1,200 member companies around the world, one of which is a US
based company CLIF Bar, which means that they along with our other member
companies donate 1% of their sales per year to our cause. By joining us companies, like
CLIF Bar, are able to be an engine for positive change and it's important that they stay
in business to continue inspiring positive change.
II.
Idea Generators and Opinion Leaders

(Media-positive) In our October issue of Fortune Magazine, JP Mangalindan wrote an
article on the benefits of being an employee for such a caring and sustainable business
as CLIF Bar. CLIF Bar and Company encourages all of its employees to live eco-friendly
lifestyles. For instance, if employees buy hybrid cars, bike to work, take public
transportation or install solar panels into their homes, they get reimbursed a set
amount of money. It’s an important first step to reward an employee for being a good
steward of the environment. This is an easy way to balance both the importance of the
planet and the importance of its people; by doing so it is easy to then make a profit due
to commitment and sustainability. We rank CLIF Bar and Company as the 9th best place
to work.

(Media-negative) One of our Huffington Post writers, Mikko Alanne, wrote a story in
July of 2014 about CLIF Bar and the company's refusal to disclose the origins of the
cocoa it uses in its bars. He discovered that for more than three years the Food
Empowerment Project, which seeks to create a more just and sustainable world by
recognizing the power of one’s food choices, have been waging a campaign against
CLIF Bar due to their refusal to disclose the origin of its cocoa. The issue with CLIF Bar
not releasing the information is the fact that more than 70% of the world's cocoa
comes from farms in Western Africa that use child slave labor. While CLIF Bar is not the
only company keeping silent on the issue of its cocoa supply origins, it is unique in that
the company is a prominent socially responsible company, giving CLIF Bar the ability
and more importantly the social responsibility to address the issue of child labor,
especially since on the company's website in the Code of Conduct it states that "CLIF
Bar does not condone the hiring of child labor under any circumstances."
III.
Business Partners and Competitors

(Competitors- PowerBar) We have been the top competitor in the energy bar market
alongside CLIF Bar for over ten years. We both strive to make bars packed with fiber,
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vitamins, and protein for athletes and people on the go. However ours are far more
superior because they are more affordable to the common athlete. We have many
similarities with CLIF Bar, including being founded by athletes to fuel personal
workouts, yet from there we each took off in very different directions. We were bought
by Nestle and became the dominating force in the market by spreading our message of
nutrition to consumers. Our goal as a company is to continue dominating the market
while CLIF Bar remains focused on saving the planet and fails to compete at our
standards.

(Suppliers- Bascom Family Farms) We supply CLIF Bar and Company with maple syrup
from our family-run business in New Hampshire. Being a company that is committed to
sustainability, our partnership with CLIF Bar is important to us. As a national company
its nice to know that they still support small family run businesses. Too many big
business these days, have converted to large-scale suppliers and don’t support local or
small business. It’s refreshing that CLIF Bar cares enough about its consumers and the
planet to get their ingredients from respectable places.
IV.
Consumers & Community

(Consumers- Alana Sherman) I have been a consumer of CLIF Bars since I was in
middle school. Admittedly, my reason for purchasing them had nothing to do with their
green business efforts since I knew nothing about it as a young teen. I consumed their
product for two reasons, energy and great taste. However, as I got older and started to
become aware of what I was purchasing, who I was purchasing from, and the impacts
that those products I was purchasing had on the environment. I began to look into CLIF
Bar and compared them to other energy bars. I found that they were the most
environmentally aware company in their field and were really making strides to continue
improving their efforts to be green. As an athlete and environmentally conscious person,
CLIF Bar was the ideal energy bar company for me.

(Community- Emeryville, CA) CLIF Bar and Company is a true, blue American company
that knows where it’s from and never skimps on their duties to their community. In 2001
they launched their 2080 Program to encourage employees to volunteer and give back
to their community. 2,080 is the average amount of hours worked for a full-time
employee and the amount of hours CLIF Bar has vowed to donate to the community
through time and hard work. Last year, with 98% employee participation, they
surpassed their goal by over 7,000 hours! Furthermore at their annual company wide
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2080 Project day, they have been able to restore mile-long trails, paint and landscape
one of our local public schools and build us a community garden. CLIF Bar is a
committed company that is dedicated to bettering our community and we are grateful for
that commitment.
V.
Investor and Risk Assessors

(Employees) Besides the perks that come with green transportation, we receive virtual
points for doing green deeds that we then get to redeem, for instance at the onsite
chiropractor. The company truly emphasizes the importance of health and wellness with
things such as an all organic cafeteria with locally grown ingredients, an onsite gym
that has both a rock climbing wall and classes offered weekly, as well as the option to
work with the personal trainer twice a week. On top of that, management wants to
ensure that we are always looking toward the future and to reward us for our hard
work; every 7 years, we get a 6-week paid sabbatical. All of these elements make CLIF
Bar and Co. a valued company to work at, one that employees such as myself can really
commit to and feel important at. Employee turnover has stayed constant at a low 3%
(2014, Fortune Magazine), proving that we are satisfied with our jobs at CLIF Bar and
Co.

(Shareholders- CEOs) Using an approach similar to that of the Triple Bottom Line, our
vision for our company was designed to sustain the planet while simultaneously
sustaining our business and attracting like-minded people to join us. Being privately
owned, we would ultimately like to stay that way, which means not being able to
compete on as large of a scale as our competitors. We have accepted this setback, and
while we strive to expand in every way possible, we are committed to our principles.
We want to ensure our consumers that they are our priority and will continue to put
them and the environment first. An important way in which we are able to do all of this
is by sustaining our employees and stakeholders. In 2010 we initiated an employee
stock ownership program, giving 20% ownership of the company to our employees.
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Business Recommendations:
(Izzy)
Our suggestion for the company is to create and use biodegradable materials for their
products. Although their packing boxes are made with 100% recycled paper, we feel that they
can do even more by creating wrappers and boxes that are 100% biodegradable.
We are suggesting this because it will help the company diminish their environmental impact
by creating a reduction in their waste. If the wrappers are biodegradable then they don’t have to
worry as much about the end life cycle of their product. The only waste created by the product is
the wrapper and packaging. Making the packaging biodegradable will decrease the amount of
trash put into landfills. We feel it will improve their organization because it will not only bring
more media attention, but also attract more consumers due to their new eco-friendly wrapper. If
they follow through with this, it could even influence other companies to follow suit and increase
their popularity in the market further. Implementation of this idea would greatly improve the CLIF
Bar Company’s carbon footprint by reducing their waste production.
This relates to the 7 Business Case Benefits because it:
o Increases Revenue and Market Share: investing in this could cause a lot more media
attention and bring in many more consumers.
o Reduces Waste Expenses
It also relates to the 4 quadrants by increasing revenue/market share and increasing brand.
However it does not relate to reducing cost because there is the possibility that in order to create this
special packaging, they will have to spend more money to manufacture them. This could cost them a
bit more, but would help the planet in the long run, thus following their company’s vision. This
recommendation was derived from looking at the Life Cycle Assessment as well as their SWOT
analysis. One of CLIF Bars weaknesses was that the packaging is the only source of waste from the
product. Since there are many companies that make health bars, there is a lot of competition in this
market. Some of the major competitors include Power Bar, Kind Bar, Quest Bar, Perfect Foods Bar,
ThinkThin, and Tiger’s Milk.
The company is doing well, but if they really want to be “Thinking like a tree”, then they will
have to implement ideas like creating biodegradable packaging. This would really increase their
brand, increase revenues and market share, and decrease waste expenses. Following through with
this could also influence many other health bar companies to do the same, which would really be a
turning point in the food industry. If a lot more companies switched to biodegradable packaging, we
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could greatly decrease how much waste is put into landfills long-term. We think this could be
accomplished within the next few years. We already have the technology to make biodegradable
products and some companies are already using them.
(Alana)
We recommend that CLIF Bar be more open about where they source their ingredients from.
Although CLIF Bar discloses the sources of some of their ingredients, the company recently came
under fire for not disclosing the source of their cocoa. The company is open about the source of their
locally grown ingredients, but are not nearly as forthcoming about the source of the ingredients that
cannot be found locally in the US.
We are making this recommendation because it will help CLIF Bar build trust between
consumers and the company. It will also reduce the company's risk because they would stop getting
negative media attention for their lack of transparency. The company's brand will increase as well
because by being more transparent and open with the public and their consumers, CLIF Bar will
redefine their brand as being an honest and socially responsible company.
This relates to the 7 Business Case Benefits & the 4 Case Benefits due to:

Decrease Risk

Increase Brand

Increase Revenues
CLIF Bar has already started heading towards being more transparent with the introduction of
CLIF CORE Values for Sustainable Sourcing, which is a way to assess their sourcing program and to
learn more about the farmers and food businesses that are part of their supply chain. The CORE
Values provide goals for sustainable sourcing, which are:
Connect - Trace our ingredients back to the producers that grow our food.
Organic - Increase our purchase of organic, transitional, and certified
sustainable ingredients.
Restore - Support and encourage restorative practices that reduce
environmental impacts, conserve natural resources, and protect biodiversity.
Ethical - Source ingredients that are grown and processed using fair labor practices.
These goals are a step in the right direction and we believe that if CLIF Bar follows through
with this idea and implements our recommendation that the company will improve greatly because
they will further the company’s already well known socially responsible business practices.
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Conclusion
Since 2001, CLIF Bar has shown that it is committed to operating a sustainable business. The
company bases all its business decisions on its Five Aspirations; considering how these decisions
could impact the environment, and ways to reduce or eliminate this impact. Their sustainability
journey has included receiving USDA organic certification for its ingredients, collaborating with
Rainforest Alliance for Cocoa Certification, joining BICEP to advocate for strong climate legislation,
launching the Seed Matters program to protect and developing organic seeds, building six farmerowned wind turbines in the Midwest, and filling up all company vehicles with local, recycled biodiesel.
CLIF Bar also encourages its employees to participate in its journey towards sustainability by
implementing several initiatives such as the Cool Home and Cool Commute programs, which provides
employees with up to $1000 annually to make eco-improvements to their homes, and rewards
employees for walking, biking, carpooling and taking public transportation to work. CLIF Bar has also
partnered with American Forests to plant trees to offset employee commutes.
Through these initiatives CLIF bar has been able to reduce its impact on the environment,
however we believe if they follow our recommendations of developing biodegradable packaging and
being more open about where they source their ingredients, they will be able to continue their
journey towards The Five Aspirations and reinforce their brand’s position as a sustainability leader in
its market to give it a competitive advantage.
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