What the Most Iconic, Mission Driven Food Brands Have in Common

April 15, 2016 by dev_team

Many of us already know the answer! Thanks to relationships with Numi, Guayaki, Rebbl and other members, we’ve seen firsthand the commitment to their values and passions while having the courage to change as they grow.

OSC2 is partnering with SOCAP on a panel event that will share simultaneous challenges and opportunities, and what role likeminded investors play in scaling impact. Please join our conversation Tuesday, May 10 in Berkeley. After the panel, we’ll host a Beer & Wine Down to continue the discussion and meet fellow social entrepreneurs and lovers of sustainable food. Details in this registration link; here’s also a sneak peek of the slide deck.

My work with many of you inspired this event. Over the years, I’ve observed how important your passion and unique insight has been within the context of building your brand. I also noticed how the truly iconic brands in our natural products industry still had founder involvement. It had me asking ‘what does it take to achieve iconic brand status?’ and ‘what comprises that careful balance of driving a mission driven, passionate brand forward, while introducing operational excellence?’

I found that answer among 2 decades of experience working with mission driven natural foods brands: passion is key to success, but also incrementally introducing performance management process at the right time and of the right size. Our panel event will talk more about this with Chris Mann, Sheryl O’Loughlin and Ahmed Rahim, 3 CEOs who have stayed true to the missions of their brands, while figuring out those tools they need to scale.