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Story Description
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters: Towards a New Business Model
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When other executives talk about supply chains Bob Stiller, CEO of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, (GMCR) speaks of communities. He sees all the people who participate in creating the products his company sells as members of an extended family of partners acting together for the benefit of all. That's why he strives to build strong relationships with South American coffee bean farmers, bringing groups of his U.S. employees to meet them every year. It's also the reason he's as interested in the growers' quality of life as he is in the quality of the beans they provide. The same sense of kinship and concern extends to distributors and customers. This culture of connectivity is part of his larger vision of pairing profit making with an activist agenda focused on social responsibility and environmental stewardship. It's a revolutionary idea and a radical plan but one to which Stiller, who founded the Vermont coffee company in 1981, is deeply committed. And it's working. |
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Primary Sources
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters: Profits With Purpose -written by Laura Taxel
The $131 million publicly held company has averaged 15-20% growth annually, and currently sells to more than 7000 wholesale customers, as well as direct to consumers via catalog and website. A new warehouse and distribution center opened in September 2004 that will increase yearly production capacity from 15 million pounds to 50 million pounds. GMCR has earned a place on Forbes Magazine's list of the "200 Best Small Companies in America" for the past four years, and the publication named Stiller "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2001. But the company has also garnered recognition from the Rainforest Alliance as a "Corporate Sustainable Standard-Setter," (2003). It has twice appeared among the top ten on Business Ethics Magazine's roster of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens (2003, 2004), and was rated one of the Best Medium Companies to Work for in America by the Society of Human Resource Management.
The company's core values link the excellence of its products with the caliber of its efforts to do business in ways that help people and protect natural resources, thus mission and label become a single entity. "What we do is who we are," says Stiller. "It's our brand and we believe in it." The combination has proven both cost-effective and personally enriching for all participants. "I've learned that people are motivated," he explains, "and more willing to go the extra mile to make the company successful when there's a higher good associated with it. It's no longer just a job. Work becomes meaningful and this makes us more competitive. Everyone realizes we can't do good unless we're profitable. The two go hand in hand."
It starts with a pledge to pay growers an equitable price. While only a portion of their purchases are actually Fair Trade certified, all are informed by the fair trade ethos. This affords farmers the opportunity to invest time and effort into caring for plants and soil. The result is a consistently superior bean. The company also supports education, healthcare and housing programs in source countries, as well as those that teach organic and sustainable cultivation methods. To build demand for organic and fairly traded coffee the company disseminates information about its transformative effects on the countries of origin and those who live there.
Stiller is equally engaged in fueling transformation in-house. The company has instituted many conservation measures and environmentally friendly practices into day-to-day operations. Employees work collaboratively to "co-create" the firm's future. Events, seminars, and lectures sponsored by the company's non-profit foundation show how to leverage personal and organizational capital to have the greatest generative impact. The CAFE program (Community Action for Employees) offers GMCR workers paid time off to volunteer with local organizations and causes of their choice. In July 2004 the positions of Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, Director of Sustainable Coffee, and Vice President of Environmental Affairs were created and filled. The new team was formed to further strengthen the company's efforts in all these areas.
Green Mountain's ethics resonate with a large sector of the public. It's not a marketing ploy but it does make marketing sense. GLBC provides consumers with an opportunity to impact the issues they care about with every pound of coffee they buy and each cup they drink.
Perhaps the most innovative aspect of Stiller's philosophy of making the world a better place while making money is that it is not an after-profit option. Nor is it the same as simply donating dollars to deserving groups. "Social responsibility is not an add-on," explains Stiller, "or an extra. We focus our activities on enriching the business process for every stakeholder." Thus achieving financial strength within the company becomes the means for Green Mountain to pursue positive change in the world, close to home and around the planet.
Further Reading
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
Acknowledgements
On-camera or recorded audio subjects:
Bob Stiller
Interviewer: Judy Rodgers
Writer: Laura Taxel
Video Production: Rachel Wilkins
Audio Production: Bauback Yeganeh and Rachel Wilkins
Music Written and Performed by: Bauback Yeganeh
Photography courtsey of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
This program was produced by World Benefit Productions and The Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit at Case Western Reserve University, which is solely responsible for its content.
© 2004 World Benefit Productions, All Rights Reserved
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