CLIF Layoffs & Launches Indicative of New Path Forward
Nine months after joining snack brand CLIF Bar and Company, CEO Sally Grimes is starting to put her mark on the 30 year old brand. The company announced this week that it would lay off roughly 125 employees as part of a larger restructuring plan — news that comes as CLIF debuts two new items that bring the brand into new parts of the store.
The company previously had over 1000 employees, largely split between their Emeryville, Calif. headquarters and production facilities in Indianapolis, Indiana and Twin Falls, Idaho. All departments were impacted by the restructuring, CLIF reported. Grimes said the plans for transformation were “well underway” before the pandemic in 2020, with layoffs not driven by Covid-19 or a need to cut costs.
“It is about accelerating growth,” Grimes said. “Which includes setting a bold goal to grow the business to $2 billion and to double CLIF’s positive impact on the world.”
CLIF reportedly had roughly $900 million in sales last year.
Terminated employees will be given the opportunity to apply for other open positions in the organization, with those ultimately departing from CLIF given severance benefits that include healthcare coverage through the end of 2021, two months of workshops and access to a Linkedin Alumni group.
Still, Grimes is not planning on slowing down. In the near future the company plans to hire 50 new employees in innovation, data and analytics, design thinking and technology. These employees will largely report to the company’s newly hired chief innovation officer Rizal Hamdallah and EVP of applied technology and insights Jennifer Bentz. Both were hired last fall, with Bentz’s newly created role designed use predictive analytics to drive consumer insights.
Online, the announcement has been met with mixed responses, with some expressing “disappointment” in the comments section of a LinkedIn post about the layoffs by Grimes. Workplace review site Glassdoor also contains reviews by employees who expressed skepticism about “unknown impacts to culture and business” due to the new leadership team.
Though the company declined to answer questions about what the new innovation strategy will entail or what consumers it will target, some clues as to the larger direction can be gleaned from recent new product launches.
Last month the brand launched CLIF Bar Thins as an exclusive launch at Walmart. Retailing at $7.30 for a 7 count box, the product is closer to that of a thin wafer than a bar. Available in Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Peanut Brownie, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut, the line will expand to Amazon.com once the six month exclusivity period ends in June.
This month the company also launched CLIF Pop’n Crunch, bite-sized, crunchy balls made from almonds, chia seeds, wild rice and quinoa. Retailing for $4.99 for a 3.31 oz. pouch, the line is only available on CLIF’s website. With 150 calories and 5g of protein, the snack line comes in White Cheddar and Barbecue.
Both lines mark CLIF’s entrance into new categories — cookies/biscuits and savory snacks — as well as move beyond the company’s prior focus on functional foods to more general snacking occasions.
Expanding beyond the nutritional bar set, which has seen sales drop in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, is a tactic several other competitors have also taken. For example, KIND has added frozen desserts, more breakfast options, and even confection products. While it remains to be seen if CLIF goes that broad with its innovation plan, Grimes said the change should be rapid.
“You will see us moving quickly to test and incubate in new ways – think of it as ‘think big, start small and scale fast,’” Grimes said. “We are focused on bringing new consumers into the brand with an expanded portfolio that offers even more choices. We know that when we follow the consumer we can’t go wrong.”
