Starting Fresh Ben & Jerry’s New Boss Tackles Nest Of Problems
Sweet success isn’t guaranteed even to the head of an ice cream manufacturer. But few anticipated the pile of problems that awaited Ben & Jerry’s new chief executive officer when he started the job.
Robert Holland Jr. has fought a tough battle since joining the ice cream company last January. Unhappy employees complaining over a wage policy, a first-time yearend loss and a delayed plant opening have all crossed his path in the last six months.
Still, the embattled CEO will face stockholders this weekend at his first annual meeting since joining the company, bringing with him a plan to bring Ben & Jerry’s back to the good times it once knew.
Ben & Jerry’s, founded in a converted gas station in downtown Burlington, Vt., gained a national reputation for its high-fat superpremium ice cream. Sales of this small-time operation run by former hippies Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield eventually turned into a $150 million operation.
But the success turned sour recently as the company’s sales growth sagged to 6 percent a year, down from double-digits. To make up for the losses, Ben & Jerry’s set its sights on international markets, but that proved to be more trying than anticipated.
After a number of mistakes, Ben & Jerry’s managers became aware that they were ill-equipped to deal with the growing complexities of a major corporation.
Cohen stepped down as CEO last year and the company launched a massive search for his replacement with the “Yo! I’m Your CEO” contest. More than 20,000 applicants wanted the job, but an executive search firm found Holland, a former Fortune 100 business consultant.
In January, Holland began his reign as CEO, easing into the nobusiness suit, laid back atmosphere of the Waterbury, Vt.-based company, but with a corporate-minded mentality.
“What we’re doing is bridging from one kind of management style to another,” said Holland, during an interview this week.
Still, Holland insists that the company will not lose some of its qualities that make it unique, especially its commitment to charity and social projects.
What he is trying to change is the management structure. He has already sketched out a plan either for improving manager training or hiring people with experience at running large operations.
But he has not implemented any management changes yet, opting to go slowly at first.
In addition, Holland hopes to erase some of the problems the company has faced in the last year, most importantly its $4.9 million fourth-quarter loss and a $1.87 million annual loss, the company’s first ever,
The debacle at the company’s new St. Albans, Vt., plant, where a failure of the new computerized manufacturing equipment caused an opening delay and cost the company millions, proved embarrassing.
And on top of those problems came a crisis from within. Many employees protested that the company had dropped its previous policy that its highest paid people will earn no more than seven times what its least paid workers earn.
Still, Holland expects Ben & Jerry’s to be the same company it always has been, maintaining a social conscience by doing right by its employees and the communities it serves.
“It’s the compelling reason why I’m here,” he said.