Page 14 - INC Magazine-November 2018

From General Mills’ hortly after Foraker’s departure,
Jon Nudi, who oversees all of
standpoint, they arrived with S
General Mills’ U.S. brands—which
a chip on their shoulders, have some $10 billion in annual
sales—made the trip to Austin to
visit Forrest and Collins. They
a perception that wasn’t had committed to staying at General Mills for
helped by their showing at least three years, according to Nudi and the
couple, and they were almost there. “It’s too bad
up in flip-flops and shorts. you guys will be leaving soon, because we’re just
getting to know you,” said Nudi.
Forrest and Collins looked at each other,
startled, and then back at Nudi. Despite all the
drama, leaving their creation behind was not
something they were planning to do. “We didn’t
ever think of the three-year deal as marking some
kind of closing date,” Forrest remembers. She
said so to Nudi, and explained her hope that
Epic’s focus on regenerative agriculture could
influence General Mills’ other brands and sup-
pliers. That was something she and Collins could
get excited about.
Suddenly, the fog lifted and the two sides saw
each other clearly. It turned out Nudi was genu-
inely interested in bringing more of Epic’s insur-
gent energy into General Mills proper, and he
welcomed Forrest and Collins’s bluntness and
focus on mission, especially because sales of
General Mills’ legacy brands have sagged. “Every
one of our brands has to stand for something and
have a point of view,” he says. “And we can learn
from Epic’s agility and speed.”
A funny thing happened after Foraker left the
The gray gianT
Golden Valley, Minnesota-based General Mills, one of the largest food companies in company. “John sort of stood as a barrier between
the world, which is known for brands like Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, and Green Giant, Epic and General Mills,” Forrest says. “His inten-
acquired Epic Provisions in 2016 for a reported $100 million. tions were always super positive, like not wanting
anyone to mess up the Epic culture, not wanting
anybody touching it. So we thought there was
Foraker remembers, “I would get calls from senior people nobody at General Mills who was excited to help us, because he
at Mills that were like, ‘What the fuck? Can you help these was the gatekeeper. That was probably a good thing for a year.
guys understand what we are trying to do here?’ ” But it probably wasn’t for two years. So when he left, it opened
Despite all the talk about maintaining Epic’s mission, there a direct line of communication.”
were fundamental differences about how much to focus on In retrospect, even Foraker agrees. “I was able to help get
it. “When small companies come into big companies, they’re issues resolved, but I’m sure one of the unintended conse-
used to making decisions on the basis of social impact and quences was that I was a buffer, not a filter, and at some point
growth and being badass innovators,” says Foraker. “The that was not helpful,” he says. “Their having to be more directly
big-company goals are not the same. They’re focused on connected to the influencers gave them more credibility, and
safety and quality, and they care a lot less about the other probably forced them to polish their edges in a way that they
stuff,” he says. didn’t have to when I was there.”
In August 2017, as Epic was in the thick of its hell year of One of the biggest tests since Foraker’s departure was the
systems integration, Forrest and Collins got hit with what development of Epic’s first nonmeat offering. General Mills’
seemed like their biggest blow yet: Foraker announced he was snacks division wanted to create a protein bar made with egg
leaving to join the actress Jennifer Garner in a new organic- whites and dates, and the company asked to do it under the
baby-foods company, Once Upon a Farm. Epic brand—which would require a whole new supply chain to
“We were scared,” Collins remembers. “We didn’t know get cage-free eggs. “The Epic team sort of coached the snacks
what was going to happen. We tried to tell our team that team through the process,” Nudi says. “There were some heated
everything was going to be OK, but the only thing we could conversations, but ultimately it made the product and the
getty do was just see what happened.” branding better.” What’s now called Epic Performance Bar went

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