Changing Lives One Cake at a Time
Caroline Tuan, MBA1
Issue date: 5/3/04 Section: Perspectives
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If you were to start a bakery that sold cakes, how would you get people to buy your product? Perhaps you could bake a fairly tasty cake. Maybe you could decide to give your proceeds to a cause. But, would people buy an average cake just because it supports a good cause?
Rubicon Bakery, an enterprise of the nonprofit, Rubicon, Inc., does not think so. It believes that to be a viable bakery, it cannot be focused on selling the best nonprofit cake around. Instead, it has to sell the best cake, period.
On April 7, six MBA students had the opportunity to visit this unique bakery in Richmond, CA to learn about its history and vision and to see how a commercial bakery operates. During the site visit and tour, Kristen Growney, GSB '00, CFO of Rubicon Programs, shared that mission of the Bakery is to provide job training, counseling, and support for low-income people in their community. As a result, all the gross profits from the cakes go towards creating jobs and support systems for people who have limited experience and access to other jobs.
When we toured the bakery, we saw that the Rubicon Bakery is truly focused on making high-quality, great tasting cakes. It uses high-quality ingredients, real fruits and vegetables, no trans fats, and no preservatives. It makes all its own batter from scratch and has a team of decorators that hand-decorates every cake. The staff is diligent about quality control; one of the cakes was taken off the line just because it was slightly lop-sided. Fortunately, our group was able to intercept the cake and keep it from being wasted.
The visit opened our eyes to the challenges and potential impact of social enterprises. When asked to summarize his experience, Tim O'Hara, MBA2, said, "Rubicon really is an amazing example of how an organization blends a social mission and a self-sustaining economic strategy. I must admit that I was surprised by how sophisticated their bakery operations were - the degree of automation, the skill of the employees, and the focus on growth, for example. And I was inspired by the customer and employee loyalty that a social mission can bring to organizations - for-profits as well as nonprofits."
For those of you who missed the visit but would like to learn more about Rubicon's enterprises and community-based services, tour the bakery, and sample cakes (the carrot cake is delicious!), you can take advantage of Rubicon's upcoming site visits that are open to the public. The next two tours are scheduled on May 13 and June 1 from 3:00pm to 4:30pm. To reserve your space, e-mail Kristen Growney at kristeng@rubiconpgms.org.
Rubicon is a great example of how a nonprofit can use business principles to both serve its constituents' needs and create a sustainable source of funding. As Board Fellow for Rubicon, Ben Tarbell, MBA1, notes, "When the discipline of a well-run for-profit venture meets the compelling social mission of a non-profit, the best of both emerge. Rubicon's results speak for themselves - the nonprofit's innovative and integrated approach has provided independence for thousands of people who were homeless or in need of public assistance, and has pumped tens of millions of dollars into the economy. Making a difference in people's lives never tasted so good..."