Clif Bar & Company, the leading maker of all-natural and organic food and performance nutrition for athletes, has announced the selling of family-owned common stock to its employees.
Through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), Clif Bar employees own 20% of the company, while husband and wife owners – Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford – retain the remaining 80%. No change in the company’s management structure will take place, with Erickson and Crawford remaining majority owners and co-CEOs of the company.
“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,” said Kit Crawford, Clif Bar’s co-CEO.
“All along we wanted to create a company where we would want to work. 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,” added Gary 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.”
Founded in 1992, Clif Bar & Company has annual net revenues greater than US$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 autumn/fall of 2010.
