Clif Bar
Encyclopedia
Clif Bar & Company is an American company that produces organic foods and drinks marketed towards active people. Their flagship product, CLIF BAR, was created in 1992 by owner Gary Erickson. The company's headquarters are in Emeryville, California
.
In its first year, sales of Clif Bar exceeded $700,000, fueled primarily by strong sales in bike shops and the growth of the healthy and natural foods movement. Sales doubled each year, and by 1997, revenue surpassed $20 million. As a result of their exponential growth, Clif Bar & Company was included in Inc.
’s 500 Fastest Growing Companies List from 1997-2000, the only energy bar company besides Balance Bar (No. 14 in the 1998 list) to receive mention. In 1997, the company name was officially changed from Kali's SportNaturals to Clif Bar & Company.
Clif Bar & Company was ranked the No. 1 brand in the Forbes
"Breakaway Brands" survey, conducted by Landor Associates
using Young & Rubicam’s
BrandAsset Valuator database measuring brand momentum from 2006 to 2009.
In March 1999, Clif Bar introduced LUNA Bar
, which was specifically marketed towards women. In April 2000, Erickson turned down a $120 million offer from Quaker Oats to buy his company. Gary Erickson and his wife Kit Crawford currently run the company as co-owners and co-CEOs.
The original CLIF BAR is targeted at athletes and active people with a second line, LUNA Bars
, serving a female audience. CLIF BARs themselves have a subtle packaging color
, stressing earth tones, and are packaged in foil-lined plastic
wrappers. Each flavor has a particular accent color - Carrot Cake, for instance, is orange, while Oatmeal Raisin Walnut is green, and Chocolate Brownie is brown. CLIF BARS do not contain ingredients sourced from GMOs, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils. CLIF BARS are also certified kosher and free of animal products.
Clif Bar & Company uses organic
ingredients in all their products. CLIF BAR, LUNA, CLIF MOJO and CLIF CRUNCH are made with 70% organic ingredients. CLIF SHOT, CLIF SHOT BLOKS, and CLIF SHOT Electrolyte Replacement Drink contain 90% organic ingredients or more.
ingredients, eliminated shrink-wrap (which saved 90,000 pounds of plastic and $400,000 annually), and invested in wind energy
to offset fossil fuel
usage.
Clif Bar has also instituted a number of policies intended to make a more green-friendly
business. In 2006, they announced their "Cool Commute" program, which gives employees $6,500 (taxed) to switch to bio-diesel or high-mileage hybrid cars to reduce their fuel consumption. As a bio-diesel incentive program, "Cool Commute" was the first of its type nationwide and drew praise from Al Gore
for helping to aid the fight against global warming
. In 2008, the company added a bike incentive to the Cool Commute Program providing employees up to $500 to purchase a commuter bike or to make commute friendly retrofits to an existing bike. Additionally in 2008, the company launched the Cool Home Program which provides employees up to $1,000 annually to make eco-improvement to their homes such as insulation, solar panel installation, new windows, etc. In April 2009, Clif Bar joined BICEP
, a coalition of 18 companies (which includes Nike
, eBay
and The North Face
) with the goal of passing progressive climate and energy legislation. In 2010 Clif Bar committed $500,000 to promote organic seed research and conserve crop genetic diversity.
or chasing the Tour de France
. Also, for each moment uploaded, CLIF BAR donated $5 to one of five charities: Access Fund, International Mountain Bicycling Association
, Leave No Trace
, Surfrider Foundation or Winter Wildlands Alliance. Meet the Moment culminated on October 1, 2011, with a nationwide day of action dedicated to numerous preservation efforts including Leave No Trace and Surfrider Foundation. Individuals participated from around the country by taking on preservation activities in their own communities. Volunteers then logged on to post their day of action volunteer photos to the CLIF BAR Facebook page. The effort brought together more than 1,200 people who contributed more than 4,500 volunteer hours to cleaning up and preserving popular outdoor recreation areas.
The company facilities include a gym, rock climbing wall, yoga room, and massage rooms. Employees are allowed to bring their dogs to work, get two and a half hours of paid exercise each week, and have access to free personal training. Clif Bar & Company was named among Outside
magazine's Best Places to Work in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
in Arizona
.
In 2004, Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford debuted the Clif Family Winery & Farm, a new business venture, with the goal of producing sustainable wines.
Emeryville, California
Emeryville is a small city located in Alameda County, California, in the United States. It is located in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, extending to the shore of San Francisco Bay. Its proximity to San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, the University of California, Berkeley, and...
.
Company history
Gary Erickson is the founder and CEO of Clif Bar & Company. In 1986, he opened a small bakery named Kali’s Sweets & Savories, which primarily sold calzones. In 1990, Erickson went on a day-long, 175 mile bike ride, bringing water and a variety of energy bars. Partway through the ride, Erickson decided that he could make a better energy bar. Erickson now refers to this moment as "the Epiphany." Two years later, after much experimentation in his mother's kitchen, Erickson settled on a recipe for what would become the CLIF BAR. The bar went through several name iterations — including Forza, Torque, and Gary's Bar — before settling on CLIF BAR, named after Gary's father Clifford. The packaging image of a rock climber was developed by Doug Gilmore on a napkin over dinner in San Francisco. Erickson debuted CLIF BAR at a bicycle show in September 1991, with Double Chocolate, Apricot, and Date Oatmeal as the original three flavors.In its first year, sales of Clif Bar exceeded $700,000, fueled primarily by strong sales in bike shops and the growth of the healthy and natural foods movement. Sales doubled each year, and by 1997, revenue surpassed $20 million. As a result of their exponential growth, Clif Bar & Company was included in Inc.
Inc. (magazine)
Inc. magazine, founded in 1979 and based in New York City, is a monthly publication focused on growing companies. The magazine publishes an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., the "Inc...
’s 500 Fastest Growing Companies List from 1997-2000, the only energy bar company besides Balance Bar (No. 14 in the 1998 list) to receive mention. In 1997, the company name was officially changed from Kali's SportNaturals to Clif Bar & Company.
Clif Bar & Company was ranked the No. 1 brand in the Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
"Breakaway Brands" survey, conducted by Landor Associates
Landor Associates
Landor Associates is a San Francisco-based brand and creative design consultancy. Founded by Walter Landor and his wife Josephine in 1941, Landor pioneered many of the research, design and consulting methodologies that are now standard in the branding industry.-Operations:Landor offers brand...
using Young & Rubicam’s
Young & Rubicam
Y&R is a marketing and communications company specializing in advertising, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting.-History:...
BrandAsset Valuator database measuring brand momentum from 2006 to 2009.
In March 1999, Clif Bar introduced LUNA Bar
Luna Bar
LUNA Bars are a brand of nutrition bar created by Clif Bar & Company in 1999. They are targeted at female consumers.-History:LUNA was created in 1999 by Clif Bar & Company’s female employees. The bars are designed to meet the nutritional needs of women, and were the first nutrition bar to target a...
, which was specifically marketed towards women. In April 2000, Erickson turned down a $120 million offer from Quaker Oats to buy his company. Gary Erickson and his wife Kit Crawford currently run the company as co-owners and co-CEOs.
Products
Luna Bar
LUNA Bars are a brand of nutrition bar created by Clif Bar & Company in 1999. They are targeted at female consumers.-History:LUNA was created in 1999 by Clif Bar & Company’s female employees. The bars are designed to meet the nutritional needs of women, and were the first nutrition bar to target a...
, serving a female audience. CLIF BARs themselves have a subtle packaging color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
, stressing earth tones, and are packaged in foil-lined plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
wrappers. Each flavor has a particular accent color - Carrot Cake, for instance, is orange, while Oatmeal Raisin Walnut is green, and Chocolate Brownie is brown. CLIF BARS do not contain ingredients sourced from GMOs, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils. CLIF BARS are also certified kosher and free of animal products.
CLIF BAR flavors
- Apricot
- Banana Nut Bread
- Black Cherry Almond
- Blueberry Crisp
- Carrot Cake
- Chocolate Almond Fudge
- Chocolate Brownie
- Chocolate Chip
- Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch
- Cool Mint Chocolate
- Crunchy Peanut Butter
- Oatmeal Raisin Walnut
- Peanut Toffee Buzz
- Maple Nut
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut
- Coconut Chocolate Chip
Clif Bar & Company uses organic
Organic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
ingredients in all their products. CLIF BAR, LUNA, CLIF MOJO and CLIF CRUNCH are made with 70% organic ingredients. CLIF SHOT, CLIF SHOT BLOKS, and CLIF SHOT Electrolyte Replacement Drink contain 90% organic ingredients or more.
Environmental sustainability
In 2001, Clif Bar transitioned to organicOrganic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
ingredients, eliminated shrink-wrap (which saved 90,000 pounds of plastic and $400,000 annually), and invested in wind energy
Wind energy
Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion; see also wind power.Total wind energy flowing through an imaginary area A during the time t is:E = ½ m v2 = ½ v 2...
to offset fossil fuel
Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
usage.
Clif Bar has also instituted a number of policies intended to make a more green-friendly
Sustainable energy
Sustainable energy is the provision of energy that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Sustainable energy sources include all renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectricity, solar energy, wind energy, wave power, geothermal...
business. In 2006, they announced their "Cool Commute" program, which gives employees $6,500 (taxed) to switch to bio-diesel or high-mileage hybrid cars to reduce their fuel consumption. As a bio-diesel incentive program, "Cool Commute" was the first of its type nationwide and drew praise from Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
for helping to aid the fight against global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
. In 2008, the company added a bike incentive to the Cool Commute Program providing employees up to $500 to purchase a commuter bike or to make commute friendly retrofits to an existing bike. Additionally in 2008, the company launched the Cool Home Program which provides employees up to $1,000 annually to make eco-improvement to their homes such as insulation, solar panel installation, new windows, etc. In April 2009, Clif Bar joined BICEP
Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy
Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy is a co-operative group of businesses coordinated by Ceres whose primary goal is to call on the U.S. government to pass broad, bi-partisan energy and climate legislation...
, a coalition of 18 companies (which includes Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
and The North Face
The North Face
The North Face, Inc. is an American outdoor product company specializing in outerwear, fleece, shirts, footwear, and equipment such as backpacks, tents, and sleeping bags....
) with the goal of passing progressive climate and energy legislation. In 2010 Clif Bar committed $500,000 to promote organic seed research and conserve crop genetic diversity.
Sponsorships and programs
Clif Bar sponsors more than 1,700 professional and amateur athletes, including professional cycling team Garmin-Cervélo (formerly Garmin-Slipstream), LUNA CHIX Pro Team, pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones and world champion triathlete Chris McCormack.Meet the Moment
In 2011, CLIF BAR’s Meet the Moment campaign encouraged adventurers to share photos and stories online of their favorite athletic adventure moments. Each time participants uploaded a new moment to the Meet the Moment website, they became eligible to win future adventures, such as trekking the AmazonAmazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
or chasing the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
. Also, for each moment uploaded, CLIF BAR donated $5 to one of five charities: Access Fund, International Mountain Bicycling Association
International Mountain Bicycling Association
The International Mountain Bicycling Association is a non-profit educational association whose mission is to create, enhance and preserve trail opportunities for mountain bikers worldwide....
, Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace is both a set of principles, and an organization that promotes those principles. The principles are designed to assist outdoor enthusiasts with their decisions about how to reduce their impacts when they hike, camp, picnic, snowshoe, run, bike, hunt, paddle, ride horses, fish, ski or...
, Surfrider Foundation or Winter Wildlands Alliance. Meet the Moment culminated on October 1, 2011, with a nationwide day of action dedicated to numerous preservation efforts including Leave No Trace and Surfrider Foundation. Individuals participated from around the country by taking on preservation activities in their own communities. Volunteers then logged on to post their day of action volunteer photos to the CLIF BAR Facebook page. The effort brought together more than 1,200 people who contributed more than 4,500 volunteer hours to cleaning up and preserving popular outdoor recreation areas.
2 Mile Challenge
CLIF BAR 2 Mile Challenge is a nationwide campaign encouraging people to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by using their human energy to ride a bike instead of driving a car for trips two miles or less. Rising gas prices make the cause even more appealing, providing additional incentive to leave the car at home and ride a bike. Through an interactive website, www.2milechallenge.com, the CLIF BAR 2 Mile Challenge enables participants to become part of an online community. Participants join one of three teams, each representing a national nonprofit group that promotes bike advocacy or fights climate change. Individuals then earn points for themselves and their teams based on riding their bikes, logging their miles, challenging friends and sharing their progress through social media. CLIF BAR will donate $100,000 to nonprofits during the 2011 2 Mile Challenge. The three national nonprofits will divide $80,000: Alliance for Biking and Walking, Safe Routes to School Partnership and 350.org. Their teams’ total points at the end of the Challenge will determine the fund allocation. The nonprofit team with the most points will earn a $35,000 grant; second place will receive $25,000 and third place $20,000.Company culture
In June 2010, Clif Bar initiated the Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP), which gave 20% ownership of the company to its 200+ employees, with Crawford and Erickson retaining the other 80%. With regards to this, Erickson stated "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."The company facilities include a gym, rock climbing wall, yoga room, and massage rooms. Employees are allowed to bring their dogs to work, get two and a half hours of paid exercise each week, and have access to free personal training. Clif Bar & Company was named among Outside
Outside (magazine)
Outside is an American magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue debuted in September 1977 with its mission statement declaring that the publication was "dedicated to covering the people, sports and activities, politics, art, literature, and hardware of the outdoors..."Its founders were...
magazine's Best Places to Work in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Community outreach
One of Clif Bar's company aims is improving the community. In 2001, they implemented "Project 2080", which had an initial goal of donating a collective 2,080 employee volunteer hours to community service (the number of hours worked by a full-time employee in a year). As the company has grown, so too has the annual target for community service hours; in 2010, Clif employees donated 5,290 hours. As an extension of "Project 2080," Clif Bar initiated "In Good Company" in 2008. The program organizes employees across several companies to assist in community development in several at need communities such as New Orleans, East Oakland, and the Hopi ReservationHopi Reservation
The Hopi Reservation, or simply Hopi, is a Native American reservation for the Hopi and Arizona Tewa people, surrounded entirely by the Navajo Nation, in Navajo and Coconino counties of Arizona, USA. The site in north-eastern Arizona has a land area of 2,531.773 sq mi and as of the 2000 census had...
in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
Other products
In addition to CLIF Bars and LUNA Bars, Clif Bar & Company produces products such as:- CLIF SHOT Energy Gel
- CLIF SHOT BLOKS - organic energy chews
- CLIF SHOT ROKS - protein bites
- CLIF SHOT Electrolyte Replacement Drink - electrolyte hydration sports drink system
- CLIF MOJO - sweet and salty trail mix bar
- CLIF Builder's - The Protein Bar That "Works As Hard As You Do"
- CLIF Kid Zbar - Baked Whole Grain Energy Bar
- CLIF Kid Zbar Crispy - Whole Grain Rice Crispy Bar
- CLIF KID Zfruit - Real Fruit Rope
- CLIF CRUNCH – granola bar
- LUNA Protein - gluten free snack that helps women more easily fit protein into their diet
In 2004, Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford debuted the Clif Family Winery & Farm, a new business venture, with the goal of producing sustainable wines.
External links
- Clif Bar official homepage
- Luna Bar official homepage
- The Greater Goods, The Monthly, December 2006.