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!

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.

Connect with MCJ:

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

AS163: John Stuart Mill