Walk into Clif Bar’s Berkeley headquarters, and you might think you’ve entered greenie-nonprofit world: multiple recycling stations, cruiser bikes kept for employees’ lunchtime use, and a fridge that serves as a pickup point for a local farm’s community-supported agriculture program. Vending machines peddle Amy’s Organic frozen meals and healthy snacks and drinks. A Coke machine provides the exception that proves the rule: Sustainability is a priority here.

Hard to believe this is the headquarters of a company with estimated revenues north of $150 million last year. But Clif Bar’s atypical in lots of ways. Owned by husband-and-wife team Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford, who serve as the 216-person company’s co-CEOs and its sole board members, it’s the only privately held company among the top 20 energy-bar brands. More significantly, it’s one of just 16 companies with an estimated $15 million or more in annual certified organic food sales that remain independent, according to Phil Howard, an assistant professor at Michigan State University who has studied the industry’s consolidation.

Full Story: http://www.grist.org/feature/2008/09/25/clif/?source=daily