Gary Hirshberg is chairman and former president and CEO of Stonyfield Farm, the world's leading organic yogurt producer, based in Londonderry, New Hampshire. He joined the company just after its founding in 1983 and stepped down in 2011. He frequently speaks on topics including sustainability, organic agriculture and the profitability of green business. In 2011, Hirshberg was mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate against New Hampshire's junior U.S. Senator John E. Sununu.
In his early career, Hirshberg served as the Executive Director of The New Alchemy Institute, a research and education center dedicated to organic farming, aquaculture and renewable energy. He also held positions ranging from water pumping windmill specialist, to environmental educator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1983, Hirshberg joined the Board of The Rural Education Center, a small, seven-cow organic farming school in Wilton, NH from which Stonyfield was born. Hirshberg led Stonyfield from its infancy to $360 million in annual sales when he stepped down as CE-Yo at the end of 2011. Under Hirshberg's reign, Stonyfield launched many innovative marketing programs aimed not only at growing customer loyalty to the brand but also in building public interest in sustainability, the environment, and small family farming. In 1989, the Adopt-a-Cow Program, allowed frequent customers to "adopt" their own cow, learning about the value of small family farms in the process. Participants would receive a photo of their sponsored Stonyfield cow, updates about life on the farm and issues small farmers faced, as well as information about sustainable farming methods. Although originally envisioned as a one-cow-one-parent model, each cow ended up with multiple sponsors just weeks after the program launched due to its instant popularity. Other Stonyfield programs include Profits for the Planet, by which Stonyfield donated 10% of their profits annually through grants to various environmentally focused non-profit organizations and Salute Your Commute, a program designed encouraged consumers to use alternative modes of transportation to help reduce carbon emissions. During Hirshberg's tenure, Stonyfield enjoyed a compounded annual growth rate of over 23% by consistently producing superior products and using innovative marketing that blended the company's social, environmental, and financial missions. Hirshberg arranged the sale of Stonyfield to Danone in 2001, and stayed on as CEO for an additional 10 years, naming former Ben & Jerry's CEO Walt Freese as his successor in January 2012. At that time, Hirshberg moved into the role of Chairman and also became the Managing Director of Stonyfield Europe, launching organic brands in France, Ireland, Italy and Spain. He resigned from his Danone responsibilities in March 2017 when Danone was required by the US Dept of Justice to divest its Stonyfield holdings. Hirshberg remains Stonyfield's Chair under the new ownership, Lactalis.
Activities
Hirshberg serves on several corporate and non-profit boards including Blue Apron, Inc., Forager Project, Late July Snacks, Orgain, Peak Organic Brewing, sweetgreen, Sweet Earth Natural Foods, and Unreal, as well as on the Advisory Board of Applegate. He was also the chairman and co-founder of O'Naturals, a chain of fast food restaurants. Outside the corporate world, Hirshberg is Chairman and a founding Partner of Just Label It, the national campaign to label genetically engineered foods. He is also the Chairman of Organic Voices, a consortium that seeks to eliminate consumer confusion about the benefits of organic. In March, 2011, President Obama appointed Hirshberg to serve on the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, where he served from 2011 until February 2017.
Publications
Hirshberg is the author of the 2008 book, Stirring it Up: How to Make Money and Save the World, a book about socially-minded business that calls on individuals to realize their power to make a difference in the marketplace, while doing business in ways that adhere to a multiple bottom line - one that takes into consideration not only finance, but the environment and health as well.
Hirshberg is the husband of writer Meg Cadoux Hirshberg and a father of three adult children, all of whom work in organic and sustainability ventures. He currently lives in Concord, New Hampshire.
Awards and recognition
A New Hampshire native, Hirshberg has received twelve honorary doctorates and won numerous awards for corporate and environmental leadership including a 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award by the US EPA. He was named a Yale Gordon Grand Fellow, one of "America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs" by Business Week and one of the top ten, "most inspiring people in sustainable food." by Fast Company. He was featured in the successful 2008 documentary "Food, Inc." Throughout his career, Hirshberg has received the following representative awards:
