On the conveyor belt, boxes are being packed with homemade delicacies to be shipped across the country. The company responsible for these treats is Bobo’s Oat Bars, founded by Beryl Stafford on the values of natural ingredients, love and family. The company gets its name from Stafford’s daughter’s nickname when she was 14, and she began making the bars out of a cookbook. Bobo’s has grown successfully, with an office, a bakery and a warehouse in Boulder and Loveland.
CEO TJ McIntyre has a goal of increasing the company’s longevity for at least a century. To achieve this, sustainability was a top priority when he opened the 125,000-square-foot bakery about one hour north of Denver. The new building is energy efficient and is powered by 100% wind. Additionally, McIntyre has implemented initiatives to divert all cardboard and raw material waste.
Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of their impact on the environment, with a survey from the IBM Business Value Research Institute showing that 62% are willing to change their buying habits to reduce their environmental impact, and 50% are willing to pay more for sustainable products. As such, sustainability is becoming a central focus for businesses worldwide, no matter how big or small. Steve Holt, founder of Unravel Coffee in Denver, believes that nothing is better than great, sustainable coffee.
Unravel Coffee sources coffee directly from its origin, implementing zero-emission roasters and focusing on community sustainability. Holt believes that businesses of any size can implement a green model. The recent IBV survey shows that 4 in 10 executives consider environmental sustainability a top priority now, and over half say it will be in the coming years.