The Journey Begins
1990
Born on a Bike
During a one-day, 175-mile bike ride—forever to be known as The Epiphany Ride—an exhausted and hungry Gary Erickson realized he couldn’t choke down another unappetizing energy bar. The idea for a better tasting bar was born!
1991
Kitchen-Crafted Recipes
Gary made a flour-filled mess of his mom's pristine kitchen for six months to perfect the first CLIF BAR® recipe.
1992
CLIF BAR® Hit the Shelves
Gary named the bar after his father, Clifford, who introduced him to wilderness adventures and encouraged him to follow his passions in life.
1999
The Launch of LUNA®
“The Whole Nutrition Bar For Women®” was introduced and, judging by its ongoing popularity, women everywhere love it!
2000
Grow the Good
So they could do more good in the world, Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford chose to walk away from an offer of $120-million to sell the company and to keep CLIF family-owned.
2001
Paid To Volunteer
Our company-wide volunteer program, Project 2080, was created, asking employees to give at least 20 hours of paid time to community service each year (2,080 is the number of hours a full-time employee works in a year)
2002
A Different Kind of Bottom Line
Gary and Kit realized that sustaining our business, our brands, our people, our communities, and the planet was a better return on investment than one bottom line. Our Five Aspirations business model was born.
2002
Best Way to Start the Day
Coworkers who eat together play and work well together, so we added bagels to the mix. Today, our Thursday breakfast tradition and all-company meeting are still the place to fill up on good food and the latest Clif news.
2003
Organic For Good™
We began using organic ingredients (like organic rolled oats) in CLIF BAR® energy bars, in our effort to continue “raising the bar” and help create a healthier, just, and sustainable food system.
2004
Nourishing Kids in Motion®
Recognizing the importance of creating a nutrition bar that meets the needs of active kids, CLIF Kid Zbar® hit the shelves. It’s still USDA Organic.
2006
Investing in the Community
Gary and Kit established the Clif Bar Family Foundation to support innovative small and mid-size nonprofits that give back to the community.
2007
Big in Europe
With the launch of our first international market in the United Kingdom, people “across the pond” could finally enjoy CLIF BARs!
2010
Sharing Our Success
To recognize everyone’s contribution in making Clif Bar, well… Clif, all employees were made part owners along with Gary and Kit. (When Clif was later acquired by Mondalez, every ESOP shareholder benefited.)
2010
Green for Future Generations
Along with the opening of our 11,500-foot LEED Platinum-certified “green” headquarters, Clif Bar’s on-site childcare facility, Base Camp, welcomed its first group of junior Clifsters.
2012
20 Years of Thanks
Gary and Kit celebrated 20 years of Clif Bar success by giving every single employee a personalized, shiny red bike!
2012
Loud and Proud
Who says corporate music can't have soul? Clif Bar’s in-house band, Grove Valve Orchestra, won the Battle of the Corporate Bands in Ohio, showcasing that music is just as much a part of our DNA as adventure.
2015
Investing in Organic
Clif Bar spearheaded the creation of the nation’s first endowed university chair in plant breeding for organic crops. We began recruiting more companies to join in investing $10 million to create a total of five chairs over the next five years.
2015
Appointment of our First CDO
Gus was named Clif Bar’s first Chief Dog Officer. While dogs have always been part of Clif’s culture, only one now commanded his very own office.
2016
A New Kind of Bakery
We opened the doors to our state-of-the-art bakery in Twin Falls, Idaho, allowing us to make delicious food in a facility that's also good to the planet.
2017
International Expansion
Clif Bar furthers global expansion with European headquarters now located in the Netherlands.
2019
Project Reveal
“Project Reveal” is revealed to Clif’s employees at our Indianapolis bakery, with the completion of a $10 million expansion. The redesign of the LEED-certified facility engaged the full team and celebrates the cultural diversity of our people, Clif’s love of nature and the outdoors, and the beauty of Indiana.
2020
• Clif Bar Baking Company of Twin Falls, Idaho achieves LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. The bakery is recognized for its innovative and sustainable design that features energy and water efficiency, recycled and natural materials, biophilic design and onsite renewable energy from a 2 MW solar array.
• Clif Bar joins the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Global Commitment to create Packaging with Purpose and sets a science-based target to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
2021
22 Million Bars Donated
Clif steps up community support to meet the challenges of the pandemic, including donating $6.2 million through foundation and corporate giving to nonprofit organizations. We also donated 22 million bars to food banks, disaster relief efforts, and community partners. And, Clifsters donated more than 8,000 hours.
2022
Mondelēz International reaches agreement to purchase Clif Bar & Company.
2023
Clif Bar continues to craft nutritious and organic food for CLIF®, CLIF Kid®, and LUNA® and is committed to sustaining its people, community, planet, brands, and business. Clif is now part of the Mondelēz International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDLZ) portfolio of brands, empowering people to snack right in over 150 countries around the world.