Reading through Chapter 13 Case and learning Stonyfield supply chain was an intriguing and interesting experience. Stoney Field organization, with the help of Samuel Keyman and Gary Hirshberg as the lead directors, had an outstanding ambition to create a healthy product for its consumers and they did so. Hirshberg is also very confident and committed to delivering the core mission/vision of the company despite frequent unforeseen economic challenges. Hirshberg and the team are also dedicated to protecting the problem through their product and educational programs. Besides, Stoneyfield value customer-organization relationship. They discontinued the production of yogurt flavours with quality issues among other quality issues, including customer discontent. Other key factors that contributed to Stonyfield’s success include;
Product Quality
At Stonyfield Farm, Hirshberg and Samuel made product quality a top priority in the production of the first bottles of yogurt (Gittell et al., 2012, p.430). They began manufacturing the product using organic milk from their Jersey cows to deliver organic yogurt. This was a solid initiative to produce and distribute a healthy product for customers. As a result, the farm registered more customers increasing the demand for the Stonyfield yogurt product. Additionally, despite the decline in the production of organic milk, Stoneyfield switched to natural milk and switched back to organic milk in the mid-1990s (Gittell et al., 2012, p.439).
Secondly, as Stoneyfield’s mission maintained that they are “committed to healthy food, healthy people, a healthy planet and healthy business”, Hirshberg and the team continued incorporating various production and distribution strategies that maintain and improve their product quality. For example, Stoneyfield were the first in the industry to prevent suppliers from supplying milk from cows treated with growth hormone such as the rBST synthetic bovine growth hormone (Gittell et al., 2012, p.440). Other initiatives to maintain product quality include the elimination of yogurt flavours such as “Frookwich” vanilla frozen yogurt that had quality problems. Sweetened cookies added to the yogurt become soggy much more quickly (Gittell et al., 2012, p.440). Perhaps Stonyfield would have added an artificial ingredient to save the product but they chose not to do so to maintain its product values and quality status.
Excellent financial decisions
At Stoneyfield farm, Keyman had little financial resources to upscale production and expertise to manage finances. He introduced Gary Hirshberg a financial expert to provide financial support and management to the company (Gittell et al., 2012, p.429). I must say this was an outstanding decision by Samuel Keyman to alleviate the company from severe financial management practices. For example, in 1986, when Stonyfield relocated and contracted with a copacker from Massachusetts, the company was faced with resource challenges due to bankruptcy and financial losses affecting both companies, Gary secured a loan and convinced private investors to invest in the company (Gittell et al., 2012, p.432). He convinced the company to retaliate to the old burn in Wilton before making a fresh relocation to Londonderry, New Hampshire to meet the increased demand. “This proved to be a very good business decision and a turning point for the company” (Gittell et al., 2012, p.432). Additionally, Gary adopted marketing strategies that were less costly to market Stoneyfield yogurt. Creative and innovative marketing strategies generate a wide customer base and minimize the use of organization resources (Varadarajan, 2012).
Innovative marketing strategies
In the Chapter 3 case, the study shows how Gary visited a Boston radio studio with a bucket of camel manure and Stonyfield yogurt. In the studio, he presented the bucket of camel manure and a packed quart of Stonyfield yogurt to Andy Moses the cohost of the Joe and Andy show for he had told his clients that he would rather eat camel manure than yogurt (Gittell et al., 2012, p.431). He was then requested to choose between the two products and he selected the packed quart of yogurt. In doing so, more people became familiar with the Stonyfield yogurt, especially when Andy claimed that the Stonyfield yogurt tasted better than camel manure. The study mentions that Gary received instant airplay to sell the product to Andy’s audience (Gittell et al., 2012, p.432). Most importantly, Gary’s marketing strategies were creative, intriguing and less expensive.
Besides, innovative advertising, Gary and the team designed sustainable marketing strategies by exploiting market segmentation and by categorizing its markets by age, gender, demographics and psychographic factors (Gittell et al., 2012, p.432). The adverts could also identify yogurts formulated especially for women, infants and kids (Gittell et al., 2012, p.432). This approach helped the company achieve outstanding brand awareness when advertisements were launched in individual segments. Additionally, Stoneyfield educational programs and packaging material influenced its customers to dispose of the packaging material responsibly for recycling. They also encouraged other industries and consumers to adopt sustainable energy sources for commercial and domestic heating.
In the Chapter 3 case study, sustainability action has positive and negative implications. In the initial stages of development, Gary and Samuel faced challenges delivering organic yogurt due to a limited supply of organic fresh milk. They had to adopt unsustainable alternatives such as the use of natural milk to manufacture yogurt. Therefore, despite the need for organic milk to supply adequate organic yogurt, the sustainability action to demand more fresh milk increases, causing limited supply. In this case, the dire need for raw materials to fulfil a sustainability dream may affect its accessibility in the future, a negative implication (Jonker & Faber, 2021, p.3).
Positive implications of sustainability action are also visible in the Chapter 3 case study. Stonyfield has for so long strived to produce high-quality yogurt flavors using sustainable manufacturing strategies. As a result, the company has realized increased sales and widened customer base. Other notable sustainability actions in the case study include the use of sustainable packaging and renewable energy (Gittell et al., 2012, p.442). They require training and equipment, which cause financial constraints for the company to implement and maintain.
Powdered milk and PLA cups decisions were sustainability-led decisions by Stonyfield farm to increase the supply of organic milk from overseas countries such as New Zealand and reduce plastic waste. The PLA cups are 81% bio-based made from plants such as corn and 19% petroleum-based. Dairy Foods (2010) assures that Stonyfield’s sustainability action to use PLA cups reduced carbon emissions by 1875 metric tons. This was the major benefit of PLA cups to the human environment and the planet. However, more corn was necessary to supply enough PLA cups for its growing customer base. The sustainability action to import powdered organic milk from countries such as New Zealand helped the company receive an adequate supply of the raw material to continue delivering organic/healthy yogurt to its customers as intended (Dairy Foods, 2010).
Gary’s hardheaded conclusions are little more hard-earned positive, practical and normative lessons on how to globally scale sustainable benefits of the plant, people and profits. Gary is committed to delivering healthy products with great nutritional value to its customers. He is also committed to reducing plastic waste by using bio-based packaging products such as the PLA cup to reduce the emission of carbon into the earth’s atmosphere. Gary and the team also lead at the front manufacturing the Stonefield yogurt using electric energy as opposed to other companies that use fossil fuels. Additionally, besides the sustainability actions to promote healthy products and create a healthy planet, Gary’s decisions in marketing and business expansion are meant to generate adequate profits for the company while utilizing scarce resources. For example, in 2002, Gary created a “hand-to-mouth” marketing strategy in Chicago by distributing free cups of yogurt to Chicago Metro transit riders to praise them for using bicycles rather than vehicles that burn fuel (p.441). In doing so, Stoneyfield receives remarkable media coverage causing an increase in Stonyfield Chicago market share from 0.08% to 2.5% (Gittell et al., 2012, p.441). Therefore, I am certain that Gary’s initiatives and conclusions are practical, positive and normative for global scaling.
Goya Foods is one of the United States’ leading food-producing companies using renewable energy in manufacturing and packaging. Goya Foods (2024) assures that it uses a combination of solar energy and recyclable packaging materials to promote environmental conservation. Its branches around the world also use renewable energy and recyclable packaging materials to promote sustainable manufacturing practices. Tesla is an additional US company with great dedication to keeping the planet healthy. They manufacture electric cars in large quantities and distribute them to its customers all over the world (Tesla, 2024). Additionally, despite not being a food manufacturing company, the company Tesla is a leading dealer of solar panels that other food, textile and technology industries can acquire to benefit the planet.
Gary and Stonefield team valued corporate partnership with local communities and organizations to create good relationship and promote common goals in respective environments. For example, in 1990, Stonyfield launched the Adopt-a-Cow program to educate local communities and their consumers on sustainable farming methods and the link between food and the environment (Gittell et al., 2012, p.439). Also in 1993, Stonyfield launched the Profits-for-the-Planet program in partnership with the nonprofit Oxfam America to promote sustainable agriculture to local, regional, national and global communities (Gittell et al., 2012, p.439). The program was also meant to influence other companies to utilize their profits cleaning the planet, Stonyfield leading at the front.
Lastly, in the life-changing corporate partnership between Stonefield and Groupe Danone, Stonyfield achieved its potential to supply sufficient healthy yogurt to its customers. Danone also helped the company develop different branches in countries such as France, Europe and Canada. Therefore, as a committed entity supplying healthy products and promoting a healthy planet, Stoneyfield influences the communities and its customers to practice the same.
At Stoneyfield, sustainability principles such as embracing organic products were embraced by the entire organization. In the Chapter 13 case study, the author assures that Stonefield employees “walked the talk” in promoting Stonyfield environmental goals, programs and actions (Gittell et al., 2012, p.447). They conducted the organization’s programs, events and activities in a manner that was consistent with Stonyfield’s mission, vision and values. Most importantly, employee participation in the sustainable manufacturing, packing and distribution process helped the company entrench its sustainability principles to new employees and firms within the company in different locations globally.
References
Dairy Foods (2010). Stonyfield farm converts to plant-based packaging. Dairy Foods RSS. https://www.dairyfoods.com/articles/85594-stonyfield-farm-converts-to-plant-based-packaging
Gittell, R., Magnusson, M., & Merenda, M. (2012). The sustainable business case book. Saylor Foundation.
Goya Foods (2024). Rice and beans – sustainability: Goya Foods. Rice and Beans – Sustainability | Goya Foods. https://www.goya.com/en/rice-and-beans/sustainability#:~:text=Goya%20is%20the%20largest%20user%20of%20solar%20energy&text=By%20using%20a%20combination%20of,actively%20implementing%20sustainable%20manufacturing%20practices.
Jonker, J., & Faber, N. (2021). Organizing for sustainability: a guide to developing new business models (p. 242). Springer Nature.
Tesla. (2024). Why install solar and storage. https://www.tesla.com/why-solar#:~:text=Installing%20a%20solar%20and%20energy,the%20transition%20to%20sustainable%20energy.
Varadarajan, R. (2020). Customer information resources advantage, marketing strategy and business performance: A market resources based view. Industrial Marketing Management, 89, 89-97.
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