Stonyfield CEO to talk business in Portsmouth

There’s a belief in many business circles that you can either focus on attaining wealth or center your efforts on environmental issues—but you can’t do both. Gary Hirshberg, chairman, president and CEO of Stonyfield Farm, begs to differ. Hirshberg was one of the first to purposely build an empire on a green philosophy. His new book, “Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World,” describes the rise of Stonyfield’s organic dairy products in the national marketplace. Hirshberg will discuss his new book at Portsmouth’s RiverRun Bookstore on Thursday, March 20.

Drawing from both his hardships and successes, Hirshberg’s book is an attempt to inspire those who hope to improve the world’s deteriorating ecosystem while still making money.

“For me, it’s been a long journey from youthful naïveté to aging clarity, but every step, however difficult, has given me the pleasure of discovering how nature’s wisdom can become humankind’s salvation,” Hirshberg writes in the new book.

Stonyfield Farm’s journey began in the early 1980s, when the company was established as an organic farming school based in Wilton, N.H. The initial mission was to teach sustainable farming practices, but this changed after a few serendipitous turns of fate.

Hirshberg, then a local environmental activist, took a trip to Orlando’s Epcot Center, where he “rammed into one of those epiphanies that change your life forever,” he writes.

While touring the center, Hirshberg entered a Kraft exhibit touted to hold the future of farming. Hirshberg was flabbergasted when he entered this “cartoon scene of chemistry gone mad.” Nothing about the lab seemed sustainable, and Hirshberg was convinced that if other businesses emulated Kraft’s practices, the planet would be headed down a path of destruction. Ye he also realized that no one would heed his message unless he amassed a considerable fortune and established credibility within the business world.

Enter Samuel Kaymen, founder of Stonyfield Farm and Hirshberg’s eventual business partner. The two teamed up and began selling yogurt to help fund Stonyfield’s school. They quickly concluded that their message would reach a larger audience as a lucrative yogurt company. The two expanded their business ventures and implemented creative marketing schemes to build an organic yogurt empire.

More than 20 years later, Hirshberg presides over the world’s third largest producer of yogurt and the single largest producer of organic yogurt.

Hirshberg’s success has finally given him the platform he sought years ago. Of course, many of Kraft’s ideas have also come to fruition, and that company, too, has benefited financially. But Hirshberg believes his approach is far more responsible.
“I am convinced that economic self-interest—whether it is achieved by saving, earning or both—is the most powerful, if not the only, force capable of bringing about the future we need in time to make a difference to the well-being of Mother Earth,” he writes.  

Hirshberg’s success suggests that his revolutionary business model can also address the human penchant for material well-being. The company’s annual sales are currently over $300 million, and its sustainable practices help reduce production costs.

Hirshberg’s journey fits in perfectly with RiverRun’s “Making the Connection” series of speeches. The series, organized by RiverRun and Seacoast Local, attempts to educate Seacoast residents about sustainable lifestyles. Hirshberg’s talk on Thursday, March 20, begins at 7 p.m. The discussion will address many of the topics brought up in the book and will also include a Q&A session. For more information, call RiverRun Bookstore at 603-431-2100 or visit the Web site at www.riverrunbookstore.com.