Ep 72: Joey Bergstein, CEO of Seventh Generation

My Climate Journey

Today's guest is Joey Bergstein, CEO of Seventh Generation, recently acquired by Unilever. Seventh Generation’s mission is to inspire a consumer revolution that nurtures the health of the next seven generations. The company is a leader in positive business practices through the use of renewable plant-based products, industry-leading transparency with respect to ingredient disclosures, and recyclable packaging.

Joey joined Seventh Generation in 2011 and, together with the Seventh Generation team, has been transforming its business, more than doubling revenue during this time, while fulfilling the company’s mission to incite a consumer revolution that nurtures the health of the next seven generations. Following the sale to Unilever, Joey was appointed CEO. Growth is accelerating, as is the company’s ability to impact millions of people around the world.

A graduate of University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business, Bergstein began his career at Procter & Gamble where he held marketing leadership roles over the course of ten years across North America and in Europe. Since then, his career turned to beverages where Joey served as VP Global Business Development and then VP Marketing at Molson and finally at Diageo where as Senior Vice President of Global Rum, Joey led a global team that doubled the rum business to over $1 billion, transforming Captain Morgan into the fastest growing premium spirit brand in the world.

In today’s episode, we cover:

• Seventh Generation overview and origin story
• 'Discussion about it’s unique principles, and when/how those came to be
• Joey’s career arc, and what led him to Seventh Generation
• When/how/why he became passionate about helping address climate change
• How he thinks about the problem, and the best ways to solve it
• Some examples of initiatives within the company to help with this issue
• How they prioritize which projects to take on, and how they measure results from an impact standpoint
• Discussion about B corps, and their role going forward versus changes that need to come with capitalism overall
• What else matters in the climate fight, beyond the work of Seventh Generation
• How Joey would allocate a big pot of money to maximize its impact on climate change
• Joey’s advice for others looking to determine how to best help

Links to topics discussed in this episode:

• Seventh Generation: https://www.seventhgeneration.com/home
• B corps: https://bcorporation.net/about-b-corps
• Great Law of Peace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Law_of_Peace
• Sierra Club: https://www.sierraclub.org/
• Generation IM: https://www.generationim.com/
• Seventh Generation: https://www.seventhgeneration.com/home
• American Sustainable Business Council: https://www.asbcouncil.org/

Enjoy the show!

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