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Bob's Red Mill is owned by its 700 employees. Its CEO says that is key to its success.
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Business Insider

Bob Moore, the founder of Bob’s Red Mill, at his retail store in Milwaukie, Ore., in 2010. His company grew from serving the Portland area to become a global natural-foods behemoth. Photo: Doug Beghtel/The Oregonian, via Associated Press

Business Insider, November 14, 2024
Posted: January 25th, 2025
https://www.businessinsider.com/bobs-red-mill-ceo-employee-o...

When 94-year-old Bob Moore died in February, Bob's Red Mill not only lost its founder but also the face of the company, literally — he's on every package. But in 2010, the natural foods company initiated a process that would help prepare it for Moore's eventual passing. Moore, who founded the whole-grain food company in 1978 and turned it into a global empire, decided to transfer ownership to its more than 700 employees. By 2020, Bob's Red Mill was entirely employee-owned. "By becoming 100% employee-owned, we knew that when Bob passed that we would control our future," Trey Winthrop, the company's CEO since 2022, [said]. Moore said he frequently fended off large corporations that wanted to buy them out. But because of the employee-ownership program, Winthrop, who has worked at Bob's Red Mill for 19 years, said he did not have to worry about an external threat coming in and trying to buy up shares. Bob's Red Mill is one of about 6,500 American companies that operate with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP. The largest majority employee-owned company in the US as of November is Publix, a Florida-based supermarket chain. Winthrop ... said being employee-owned boosts employee engagement and retention. He said it creates a two-way street of communication, where the company can share financials with employees and workers are given a voice, in part through being active in committees.

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