Running head: Burts Bees Case Study

Title: Burts Bees Case Study

Author: Niki Ford, Trevor Lancaster, Joshua Gillespie, William Hall, Amanda Hayes
Author Affiliation: Florida State College Jacksonville

Burts Bees Case Study

2
Abstract

The paper goes into details answering questions in reference to "Burt's Bees: Balancing
Growth and Sustainability." It covers the sustainability journey of Burts Bess, and how far
along the company is in their process. The most challenging goal we think they face before
2020, along with an explanation of their business model, and if it is replicable. This paper also
covers the growth of Burts Bees and how they have handled any tension thus far. Lastly, the
risks and potential opportunities from the Clorox acquisition are covered.

Burts Bees Case Study

How far along is Burt's Bees in their sustainability journey?

Sustainability is a difficult task for a rapidly growing company like Burts Bees. They
have set some lofty goals to be reached by 2020, making it even more challenging. Two of the
goals mentioned are, zero waste, zero carbon company, operating on 100% renewable energy in
LEED certified buildings by 2020. (Marquis) Burts Bees set out on this mission in 2006, and
began to set goals by developing a process, and collecting environmental data. Along the way
Burts Bees accomplished some exciting milestones. One notable milestone came in 2010 when
the company reached an average of 99% natural ingredients in all of their products. In the very
next year Burts bees celebrated their first full year of sending zero waste to landfills their three
U.S. facilities. Burts Bees continues to break barriers and set millstones in the personal care
industry. They continue to follow the vision the cofounders had over 30 years ago by offering
natural products that are good for the consumer and the environment.
Which of their 2020 goals is the most challenging? Why?
While all of Burts Bees sustainability goals are difficult to achieve, I believe the most
difficult goal would be 100% Employee Engagement. While Zero Waste, 100% Natural Product
and 100% renewable energy are extremely difficult, the future technologies may help to achieve
these goals. The human element however is difficult to handle when you are dealing with a goal
like 100% employee engagement. Even if the company was to experience all the other goals
through breakthrough technologies, having 100% of employees truly engaged would be the most
difficult.
Could any company do this? Is their "Greater Good" Business model
replicable?

Burts Bees Case Study

Therearemanynaturalcareproductsthatstrivetobe100%natural.However,Burts
Beescompanyalsostrivestobeazerowaste,zeroCarbonCompany,operatingon100%
renewableenergywith100%employeeengagementby2020.Itisnotimpossibleforother
companiestocopy,butitwillbeahardgoaltoreach.TheGreaterGoodModelincludeshealth,
environment,humanitarian,andconstituents.ThroughtheGreaterGoodFoundation,BurtsBees
commitstopledgeatleast10%ofallwebsitesalerevenuestoHabitatforHumanity,the
TriangleLandConservancy,andTROSA.

It is clear that the more a company grows, the more difficult it is to

be sustainable. How has Burt's Bees balanced the tension thus far?
Sometimes the statement that the more a company grows, the more difficult it is
to be sustainable can be correct. With the company Burts Bees, they were focused on the
consumer and being natural with the ingredient for their products. As long as they were honest
what was in their products and made sure they were natural, they knew that the product would
succeed. The bigger Burts Bees got as a company, the more they felt like they needed to
implement more processes to show that they were natural and had a reliable product. For
example, they added on a natural bar to show the customer how natural the product. According
to the video, it was both a good thing and bad. Some consumers stated that if it was in a natural
store then all the products sold there should be 100% natural but some liked that they could see
exactly how natural the product was.
Burts Bees has grown more and more each year and have come closer and closer to
becoming a no waste company. When implementing new processes, it can be difficult to make
sure that both the product will still be successful and the customer will still buy the product.

Burts Bees Case Study

They have balanced the tension thus far by realizing that they have a great group of people that
are very passionate about the company. Everyone is so passionate that they are always taking
into consideration how the changes they make will effect both the company and the environment
as well. According to the video, Yola states that they always take both the environment and
future generations into consideration when making changes.
As the company began to grow, they brought in a consulting firm to help them. They had
a workshop for a few days and the outcome was having a clear set of goals, a more holistic
approach to doing things and knowing who they wanted to become in the future. This allowed
them to work harder and have a clear understanding of what needed to be done to achieve those
goals. Even after selling the name to Clorox, Burts Bees still has all of the same goals that they
want to achieve and made it clear that they always want to work towards becoming a more
natural company every day.
Moving forward, what are the risks and opportunities from the
Clorox acquisition?
WiththeCloroxacquisition,Burtshasmanyopportunitiestolookforwardtointhe
future.CloroxisloadedwithtechnologyandexpertiseandBurtscantakefulladvantageofthat
inimplementingnotonlythenaturalproductsthattheyareknownfor,butawidervarietythat
includes:babycareproducts,mosquitorepellent,andsuncareproducts.Themergeralsogave
BurtsBeesalargermarkettoenterandachancetopropelgrowth.In2007,BurtsBeesbegan
tosellinCVS,Walgreens,andothermainstreamretailstores.Movingforward,BurtsBees
consumerawarenesswasonlyaround35%whereasnow,BurtsBeesconsumerawarenessis
around70%.Withthatinmind,BurtsBeeshasbeenabletoretainconsumersbytrialandthen
use.Burtshasbeenabletokeepanexcellentrelationshipwithitsconsumers.Thishasallowed

Burts Bees Case Study

forconsumerstobringinotherconsumersandsoonandsoforth.Moreconsumersareturning
towardsnaturalproductseverydayandbyenteringamainstreammarketgrantsBurtsBeesthe
opportunitytograbtheseconsumersandturnthemontotheirproducts.
TherisksinvolvedincludedBurtsBeeslosingalotoftheirdistributionandinternally,many
employeesbelievedthatBurtsBeeswassellingout.Manycompaniesthatwereinterestedin
BurtsBeeswantedtobuythebrand,butthatsnotwhatBurtsBeeswanted.Burtswasatrisk
oflosingwhattheystoodforandthenaturalfeeloftheirproducts.Consumerswerealsoatrisk
andbecameoutragedatthechoicethatBurtshadmade.Thisleadtoomanyconsumersnot
beinghappyevenaftertheCEOpersonallycontactedconsumersandwroteemailsandblogs
defendingBurtsBeeschoiceinthematter.Criticismwasanotherriskassociatedwiththe
merger.WallStreetanddistributorswereconcernedabouthowproductswouldsell.Thebiggest
riskiswhetherornotCloroxwilltarnishthereputationanduniqueidentityofBurtsBees.

Burts Bees Case Study

REFERENCES
Marquis,Christopher."Burt'sBees:BalancingGrowthandSustainability(Multimedia)."
HarvardBusinessSchoolMultimedia/VideoCase410704,February2010.
sustainablebrands.com,.'ObsessionOver'Natural'Aside,Burt'sBeesARightfulLeaderInThe
PersonalCareIndustry|SustainableBrands'.N.p.,2015.Web.11July2015.

Burts Bees Case Study