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News & Notes BRIEFS GOURMET NEWS JANUARY 2020 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 6 Stonyfield Farm's Gary Hirshberg Joins Plant-based Yogurt Maker Hälsa Gary Hirshberg, co-Founder and former long- time chief executive officer and chairman of Stonyfield Organic, the world's leading organic yogurt producer, has become an investor and board member of Hälsa Foods, the maker of the first and only 100 percent clean and organic oat milk yogurt. Hirshberg is a renowned pioneer and advocate of organic, sustainably grown food. Growth Projected for Plant-Based Cheese Market The plant-based cheese market is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 15 percent during the period 2018–2024, according to Reportlinker. The increasing preference for vegan diets among consumers due to increasing concerns over animal rights and the environment is boosting the plant- based cheese market. The millennial population is the primary driver for the global shift from animal-based products to plant-based food products. Renowned celebrities and world- class athletes, along with world-renowned companies such as Google, are moving toward the consumption of plant-based products. Lactose intolerance is widespread across the world, although the variation differs largely across regions. The high prevalence of lactose intolerance among the population is contributing to the adoption of non-dairy products as well as plant-based cheese. The plant-based cheese segment accounts for approximately 6 percent of the global non- dairy milk market. North America accounted for the largest market, followed by Europe. GrubMarket Acquires Doorganics to Continue its Nationwide Expansion GrubMarket has completed the acquisition of Doorganics, the leading online farm-to-table delivery service in Michigan, specializing in local and organic fruits, veggies, dairy, pastured proteins, artisan breads and a variety of thoughtfully curated groceries. Doorganics was originally founded in 2011 by Mike Hughes, a Michigan native and e-commerce grocery visionary, who created an unparalleled food experience for people who want to save time, eat healthier, and support local farmers and foodmakers. As a result of this acquisition, Doorganics will now be able to leverage GrubMarket's established e-commerce network and supply chain capabilities, which will assist Doorganics in quickly expanding its offerings to even more cities across the Midwest. Doorganics' headquarters will remain in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the company will continue to be led by its current leadership team, including founder Mike Hughes. Ozery Bakery Continued from PAGE 1 chain. Different companies will measure their own goals in those areas in different ways, so different companies' emphasis is likely to tell a unique story about what the company stands for. Ozery Family Bakery has built its busi- ness over the past 22 years on five pillars: consumer and product, business and prof- its, community, team members and the en- vironment, said Guy, so that the company was already aligned with B Corp, but the assessment tools pro- vided by B Lab pro- vided a means of bench-marking the company's progress on its goals and in- corporating those ob- jectives into the company's overall strategic plan, which currently runs though 2022. "I think it's important to make sure that the B Corp initiatives are integrated into the company's planning process," he said. While environmental goals have a place among the company's five pillars and in its strategic plan, its social goals with respect to its community and team members are the subject of its initial emphasis as it em- barks as a B Corp, said Guy. In its initial self-assessment, the Ozery Family Bakery team had to think about what has given them the most pride in the company's ac- complishments, and two of the most im- portant milestones that they remember are the day that they could afford health benefits and the day that they started a profit-sharing program, Guy said. Now the company also has a $500 interest-free loan program that any team member can access with no questions asked about the need and a monthly bonus system that's tied to performance. "We also have a very strong program of social activities through the year – a winter party, summer barbecue, quar- terly outing or get-together – all to create an e n v i r o n m e n t that's more than people just coming to work – it's a commu- nity," Guy said. The company's social activities also include a monthly birth- day celebration with cake in honor of team members who have birthdays during that month, a social lunch with Alon and Guy that welcomes new team members and a monthly office meeting and lunch where the team shares ideas and talks about the company's val- ues. In its wider community, Ozery Family Bakery expresses its commitment to kids and nutrition – a natural connection for a company that bakes wholesome bread products. The school nearest the bakery is part of a neighborhood that faces socio-economic challenges, so Ozery provides its Morning Rounds for free to the school's breakfast program, and vol- unteers from the company are part of a collaboration with a non-profit organiza- tion to build a garden and maintain it through the year. "We do a planting day with the kids, help maintain the garden throughout the year, and at the end of the year, we harvest the fruits and veg- etables with the kids and cook a big pot of soup," Guy said. The company also provides about 100 schools with its products at cost, working through a foundation that purchases the products at the company's cost and then donates them to the schools, and it allows everyone on the com- pany's payroll to donate one day a year to volunteer for initiatives that are either sponsored by the company or oth- erwise aligned with the com- pany's values. "We're hoping to be able to increase that to more days in the future," Guy said. Organizing those activities in which the company was already engaged with the tools provided by B Lab has given the company a way to prioritize those activities and move them forward, which is more important to Ozery Family Bakery than the marketability of the certification, Guy said. "It helps us sys- temize. We are entrepre- neurs in spirit, and today, all of our leader- ship team is organized around this.... The idea of growth becomes more relevant because it's not all about just grabbing market share, but the more you grow, the more impact you can have on all these areas, and that in itself is a great reason to grow the company. It gives us a sense of purpose." GN

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