Stonyfield Organic

“And by 11 a.m. That morning, my first day, I calculated that we were 75,000 dollars in the red.”

“At this moment in Stonyfield's life, we briefly departed from organic.”

“And, of course, I've got now, I now have over a million dollars of her mother's money, ok? Like money she could never afford to lose. Everything they had.”

“I called my mother and I borrowed 30,000 dollars from her, which she could ill afford, as I told you before.”

“The end of 89, we began manufacturing in this facility. The business is now doing 3.4 million dollars in sales, but we lost 1.4 million that year. The next year, we did 6.5 million in sales, and we lost 900,000. The following year, the second full year in the …”

“Worse than that, I had to come up with a 100,000 dollars to take my in, get my inventory out of the building. Because again, we owed them co-packing fees. Now the bank's the owner. And so I had to go, call my shareholders and find a 100,000 dollars within hour…”

“Earlier this year, Danone sold Stonyfield to another company called Lactalis, one of the biggest dairy companies in the world. And the amount Lactalis paid for Stonyfield? Eight hundred and seventy-five million dollars”

“And instead of asking for a grant, I'm asking you for a loan. And I wound up borrowing a 125,000 dollars.”

“By then, Samuel and I were down to 10% each in the company.”

“And, of course, I've got now, I now have over a million dollars of her mother's money. Okay? Like money she could never afford to lose. Everything they had.”

“About a month later, we were her number one selling yogurt. She took us in the other two Bread and Circuses, and off we went.”

“By the way, back in 2017, the same year we first spoke to him, Danone sold Stonyfield to another company called Lactalis, one of the biggest dairy companies in the world. And the amount Lactalis paid for Stonyfield? Eight hundred and seventy five million dolla…”

“I, you know, I always say we can ship the yogurt 3000 miles, it's the last 18 inches that makes all the difference. You get it in people's mouths, and then they're gonna ask for it.”

“At this moment in Stonyfield's life, we briefly departed from organic.”

“All told, including paying off the debts, two and a half million dollars, and opened our new factory nine months later in Londonderry, where we are today.”

“By then, in 1984, our sales were up to around 250,000 a year.”

“Yeah, I wish I understood that being an entrepreneur is really being a pathological optimist, and the most dangerous word in my vocabulary was yes.”

“It's always comes down to taste if it's food. I always said, used to say you could ship the yogurt 3000 miles, but it was the last 18 inches that made all the difference. It has to, because you're not going to get a second taste. If it doesn't deliver on the f…”

“And, you know, again, this is this sort of, ah, theme, I think, that happens as entrepreneurs with a mission, ah, you know, the brand or the company, sometimes, ah, they forget, right, that that's actually what enables them to get to their platform, so, ah, im…”