Annie's Homegrown
History:
In 1982, Annie Withey created her signature cheese mix in her kitchen in Boston. With her then husband, Andrew Martin, she started Smartfoods. In 1986, Withey and Martin sold Smartfoods to Fritolay for about $15 million. In 1989, Annie's Homegrown, Inc. was founded. Their initial plan was to make healthy organic macaroni and cheese (Casserly). In addition to this, Withey desired to show the world how to have a successful and socially responsible company. Their corporate motto is “Eat Responsibly – Act Responsibly.” Bernie, Withey’s pet rabbit, became the face of the brand for which she coined the phrase, “Rabbit of Approval.” Withey even put her own address and phone number on each box so that customers could give her feedback ("About Annie's"). In 1995, Annie's completes a direct public offering. In 1998, Annie's purchases Taste of India's Tamarind Food Line. The same year, they introduce pasta meals and peace pastas. From here on, Annie's proved to be a successful organic company as the number two macaroni and cheese brand in the nation ("Annie's Homegrown, Inc. History"). Culture of the company: Annie's corporate motto is "Eat Responsibly - Act Responsibly". When Annie’s Homegrown was started, the owners created a set of core values they planned to abide by therefore starting their corporate culture. These values include all of the following: 1) Annie’s is real, authentic, and trusted by customers. 2) Annie’s makes products that delight customers and taste great. 3) Annie’s uses simple, natural, and organic ingredients. 4) Annie’s sources from trusted people and places and emphasize environmental sustainability and quality. 5) Annie’s is socially responsible. 6) Annie’s and its employees treat customers, suppliers, stockholders, and everyone else with the same high degree of respect, fairness, and honesty they expect out of others. Annie's uses these core values as a basis for all their strategic business decisions. Their most important value is trust. Annie's wants their customers to trust them as a company and that will in turn make purchasing or recommending their product second nature. As a brand, they believe their culture is a source of competitive advantage ("Mission Statement"). What functions get more attention in the discussion of the 3 levels? Annie's focuses on ethical behavior, corporate social responsibility, and corporate governance. They seem to put more attention on corporate social responsibility and ethical behavior, though. As a company, they strive to behave ethically and responsibly for their communities, shareholders, and stakeholders. They participate in several programs that help their local communities and donate to organizations as well. Their code of business conduct is posted for the public to view and is followed very strictly by their employees. When Withey created the company, she wanted her employees to behave ethically as well as be socially responsible on behalf of the company. However, corporate governance is of importance for Annie's. As a public company, Annie's makes it a priority to be responsible to their shareholders and follow through with their commitment to them. Triple Bottom Line: The triple bottom line was coined by John Elkington in 1998. Many companies try to have their annual reports show a triple bottom line: financial, social, and environmental. Annie's does not specifically mention a triple bottom line in any documents but it is clear that they have one. Their mission statement is "to cultivate a healthier, happier world by spreading goodness through nourishing foods, honest words and conduct that is considerate and forever kind to the planet." As a company, Annie's strives to be successful financially, but more importantly, socially and environmentally responsible ("Mission Statement"). Corporate Governance: Annie's has corporate governance guidelines posted on their company website. The document lists in great detail standards that all members of the Board of Directors must follow. It describes how a director is elected to the board, what the process is, and what their qualifications must be. Walter Salmon created a checklist of 22 questions to assess the quality of a board of directors (Ghillyer). His first question is: "Are there three of more outside directors for every insider?" The only inside director on the board is the CEO, John Foraker. The answer to this question is yes, as there are five outside directors to one inside director. His second question asks: "Are the insiders limited to the CEO, COO, and CFO?" The answer to this question is yes. The only insider on the board is CEO, John Foraker. His third question is as follows, "is your board the right size (8-15 members)?" Annie's board of directors consists of six directors. Considering the size of the company, six members is not detrimental, however it is helpful to have more expertise added to a company. Having more people on the board (8-15) allows for the board to be more effective in decision making for the company ("Board of Directors" and "Governance Guidelines"). |
Current products:
Over 125 products: -Pastas -Snacks -Dressings and oils -Condiments -Sauces -Frozen pizzas -Frozen entrees ("Annie's Natural & Organic Products"). Kohlberg's State of Ethical Reasoning: Kohlberg came up with three levels of ethical reasoning that each have two stages within them. The levels are: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. Annie's is definitely at the postconventional level. Kohlberg defines this as the highest level of ethical reasoning where a person or company make it a point to have principles and core values that reflect an individual value system (Ghillyer). As discussed previously, when the company was founded, Withey created a set of core values for which she wanted to company to adhere to. Annie's would be at stage 6 which is when a person or company is focused on self-chosen ethical principles. Annie's wanted her company to be ethically responsible from the get go and she made sure of this by installing core values ("Mission Statement"). Human Resources: Human Resources is mentioned within ethical behavior the most. Within their Code of Business Conduct, Annie's refers to their Human Resources department several times. If an employee observes any unlawful harassment, they are to report it to HR. As far as protection and proper use of the company's assets, personnel records are only to be accessed with permission from HR. "All new hires will receive the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and confirmation from the Human Resources Department". For ethical issues, employees are instructed to talk to a member of management, HR, or an appropriate ethics contact ("Code of Ethics"). Corporate Social Responsibility: Annie's is definitely an ethical company meaning they strive to be responsible to their shareholders, their community, and to their stakeholders (Ghillyer). Annie's incorporate their beliefs into their core corporate values when the company was founded. Annie's believes they have a commitment to the plant and to the people. They participate in several programs which help the community and the environment such as Grants for Gardens, Cases for Causes, and Sustainable Agriculture Scholarships. They also strive to reduce their carbon footprint which they call their bunny footprint. In addition to this, Annie's financially supports organizations that promote organic farming and advocacy ("Mission Statement"). |
Geographical locations of production, sales, and customers:
Annie's has over 25,000 retail locations in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters is in Berkeley, California. Annie's products are produced by independent manufacturers. In the fiscal year of 2011, Philadelphia Macaroni Company, Lucerne Foods, and Chelten House Products were Annie's largest contract manufacturers ("Corporate Profile"). Code of Ethics: Annie's has a Code of Business Conduct Ethics that is posted on their website. It is a PDF document that is very extensive at fifteen pages long. The document begins with an introduction and overview then goes into detail about several subcategories. The Code talks about its mission and values first with its responsibility to each other, to customers, to business partners to communities, and to its competitors. Next it talks about the protection and proper use of assets, fair dealing, compliance with the law, and conflict of interests. Lastly it talks about corporate opportunities, compliance guidelines, reporting violations, and non-retaliation ("Code of Ethics"). Conflict of Interest: A conflict of interest can be defined as a situation where a personal relationship or obligation puts someone in direct conflict with another personal relationship or obligation (Ghillyher). In Annie's Code of Business Conduct, they state that all decisions should be made in the best interest of the company. All decisions are also to be handled ethically when a personal or professional relationship is conflicted ("Code of Ethics"). Evolution of Company: From the founding of the company, it seems that Annie's has been at the postconventional stage as defined by Kohlberg. Withey was very conscious about creating a company that would be socially, environmentally, and ethically responsible. It is because of Withey and her commitment to her company that Annie's is such a conscious company. It is one thing for a company to say they are going to be socially, environmentally, and ethically responsible, but it is another thing to actually follow through with it. Follow through is what Annie's has done. Over the years, Annie's commitment to their core values is one of the reasons they are such a trusted company. Annie's employees volunteer their own time in community programs. The company gives back to several beneficial programs. Last year, Annie's donated $474,000 to programs to connect people and organic food ("Giving Back - Annie's Homegrown"). Works Cited "About Annie's." Annie's Homegrown. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. "Annie's Homegrown, Inc. History." History of Annie's Homegrown, Inc. – Funding Universe. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. "Annie's Natural & Organic Products." Annie's Homegrown. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. "Board of Directors." Annie's Homegrown. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. Casserly, Meghan. "The Homegrown Success (And Mild Indigestion) Of Annie's Natural Foods." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 09 Oct. 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. "Code of Ethics." Annie's Homegrown. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. "Corporate Profile." Annie's Homegrown. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. Ghillyer, Andrew. Business Ethics Now. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2012. "Giving Back - Annie's Homegrown." Annie's Homegrown. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. "Governance Guidelines." Annie's Homegrown. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. "Mission Statement." Annie's Homegrown. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. |