Stonyfield President & CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg to Serve in Two Policy Posts
Londonderry, N.H. (May 3, 2011) – Stonyfield President and CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg has been appointed to two new policy advisory positions involving food and agriculture, as well as trade and policy negotiations. President Barack Obama appointed Hirshberg to the Advisory Committee for Trade and Policy Negotiations on March 29th.
Today he was announced as a co-chair of AGree (www.foodandagpolicy.org), a major new initiative to transform food and agricultural policies on a global scale. The long-term initiative was launched and funded by eight of the world’s leading foundations: Ford Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and The Walton Family Foundation. Hirshberg will serve in both advisory roles while continuing his work as President and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm.
Since 1983, Hirshberg has overseen Stonyfield’s growth, from its infancy as a seven-cow organic farming school to its current $370 million in annual sales. Stonyfield has enjoyed a compounded annual growth rate of over 23% for more than eighteen years, by consistently producing great-tasting products and using innovative marketing techniques that blend the company’s social, environmental, and financial missions. In 2001, Stonyfield Farm entered into a partnership with Groupe Danone, and in 2005, Hirshberg became managing director of Stonyfield Europe, a joint venture with Danone, with organic brands in Canada, Ireland, and France.
The husband of freelance writer Meg Hirshberg and the father of three yogurt eaters, Hirshberg is the author of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World (Hyperion Books, 2008) and is a frequent speaker on topics including sustainability, climate change, sustainable economic development, organic agriculture, and the profitability of green and socially responsible business.
Stonyfield Farm: Dedicated to Healthy Food, Healthy People, Healthy Planet, Healthy Business
Stonyfield Farm, celebrating its 28th year, is the world's leading organic yogurt company. Its certified organic yogurt, smoothies, milk, cultured soy, frozen yogurt and ice cream are distributed nationally. The company advocates that healthy food can only come from a healthy planet. Its use of organic ingredients helps keep over 180,000 farm acres free of toxic, persistent pesticides and chemical fertilizers known to contaminate soil, drinking water and food. To help reduce climate change, Stonyfield offsets all of the C02 emissions generated from its facility energy use. The company also started a nonprofit called Climate Counts (climatecounts.org) which shows people how they can help fight climate change by the way they shop and invest. Stonyfield also donates 10% of its profits to efforts that help protect and restore the Earth. For further information, visit www.stonyfield.com or follow Stonyfield on Twitter @Stonyfield and @StonyfieldBiz, and on Facebook www.facebook.com/StonyfieldFarm.
