Greyston Bakery

Greyston Bakery is a for-profit bakery based in Riverdale, New York, established in 1982 by Bernie Glassman, a Zen Buddhist teacher and community organizer. The bakery is associated with the Greyston Foundation, a nonprofit organization that directs the business’s profits toward community-oriented programs. Its commercial activity therefore serves a social-enterprise purpose: producing and selling baked goods while creating employment pathways for people who may face substantial barriers to conventional work. The organization is particularly identified with an open-hiring policy. Rather than requiring conventional background checks or interviews, the bakery uses a first-come, first-served waiting list. When an applicant reaches the top of the list, the person can be offered a paid apprenticeship, generally beginning at slightly more than the applicable minimum wage. Apprentices receive on-the-job training for at least six months, with permanent employment offered to those who successfully complete the program. The model is intended to reach people who may have difficulty finding work because of their employment history, housing situation, transportation constraints, childcare responsibilities, or other personal circumstances. Greyston also provides access to an on-site social worker who helps employees address practical problems that could otherwise disrupt their employment. The bakery’s principal commercial product is the brownie. In the late 1980s, Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s agreed to purchase Greyston brownies for use in the ice-cream company’s chocolate fudge brownie flavor. Greyston subsequently became the primary brownie supplier for Ben & Jerry’s, making the bakery’s products part of a widely distributed consumer-food offering while preserving the connection between sales and the Greyston Foundation’s local mission. The bakery also sells baked goods under its own name online and has participated in a co-branded product line with the Whole Planet Foundation distributed through Whole Foods Market. Growth in demand led Greyston Bakery to move in 2004 to a larger facility designed by architect Maya Lin. The new site allowed the business to accommodate increased production while continuing its employment-centered operating model. In 2012, Greyston Bakery became New York State’s first registered benefit corporation, formalizing a legal structure that recognizes social and environmental objectives alongside commercial activity. Greyston’s distinctive positioning is not based solely on product differentiation. It combines contract and branded food manufacturing with an explicit employment mission. Profits are directed to the Greyston Foundation, which has used them to support initiatives such as low-income housing, community childcare, medical support for people with AIDS, and other local programs. The bakery’s operating model illustrates how a food business can be structured as an earned-income vehicle for nonprofit community investment. Its significance in the social-enterprise field comes from integrating production, workforce development, and community services rather than treating charitable activity as a separate marketing program.

Greyston Bakery began operations in 1982 in Riverdale, New York. It was founded by Bernie Glassman, a Zen Buddhist who was involved in building community institutions through the Greyston Foundation. From the outset, the bakery was designed as more than a conventional food manufacturer. It operated as a for-profit business, but its profits were directed to the nonprofit Greyston Foundation for community purposes. The bakery’s central social innovation is its open-hiring system. Greyston seeks to provide work to people who are often excluded from ordinary recruitment processes. Applicants do not need to pass a background check or a conventional interview. Instead, they join a first-come, first-served waiting list. Once an applicant reaches the top of the list, the bakery can offer a paid apprenticeship. The apprenticeship normally lasts at least six months and combines practical work with training. Employees who complete the apprenticeship successfully may receive permanent positions. The company has described the apprenticeship as costing approximately $1,900 per participant and has stated that employee turnover is comparable to that of other businesses in the industry. These figures are reported claims associated with the bakery’s operating model rather than independently verified financial results. Greyston’s employment approach is supported by workplace social services. An on-site social worker helps employees deal with obstacles such as transport, childcare, and housing. This support reflects the organization’s view that retaining employment may require assistance beyond wages and job training. The broader Greyston Foundation has used bakery profits for low-income housing, community childcare, medical services for people with AIDS, and other local initiatives. During the late 1980s, the bakery gained an important commercial customer when Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s agreed to buy its brownies for the ice-cream company’s chocolate fudge brownie product. Greyston became Ben & Jerry’s primary brownie supplier, giving the social enterprise a substantial route into the consumer-food market. The bakery also developed its own branded baked goods and a co-branded line with the Whole Planet Foundation that was sold exclusively through Whole Foods Market. As production expanded, Greyston moved in 2004 to a larger facility designed by architect Maya Lin. The relocation was a business-growth milestone as well as an investment in the physical setting of the bakery’s employment program. In 2012, Greyston Bakery became New York State’s first registered benefit corporation. That designation provided a formal corporate framework for pursuing public-benefit goals alongside profit-making activity. Greyston Bakery’s history is consequently defined by the interaction of three elements: food manufacturing, inclusive employment, and nonprofit community reinvestment. Its brownies provide the revenue-generating product, the open-hiring policy supplies a pathway into paid work, and the Greyston Foundation provides the institutional channel through which profits support local services. The available reference material does not establish a current executive roster, detailed financial results, or a separate corporate parent beyond the bakery’s relationship with the Greyston Foundation.

• 2012

  Becomes New York State’s first registered benefit corporation

  [1]Greyston Bakeryen.wikipedia.org

  The bakery adopts benefit-corporation status, formally recognizing social objectives alongside commercial operations.

• 2004

  Move to a larger Maya Lin-designed facility

  [1]Greyston Bakeryen.wikipedia.org

  Greyston relocates to a larger facility designed by Maya Lin to support growth in production.

• 1982

  Greyston Bakery is founded

  [1]Greyston Bakeryen.wikipedia.org

  Bernie Glassman establishes the bakery in Riverdale, New York, as a for-profit enterprise connected to the Greyston Foundation’s community mission.

• Ben & Jerry’s becomes a major customer

  [1]Greyston Bakeryen.wikipedia.org

  During the late 1980s, Ben Cohen agrees to purchase Greyston brownies for Ben & Jerry’s chocolate fudge brownie ice cream.

A mission-led bakery and social enterprise that uses commercial brownie production to support open hiring, workforce development, and community investment.

• Brownies · 1982

  Greyston brownies

  Brownies are Greyston Bakery’s signature product and the foundation of its contract-manufacturing business. The bakery supplies brownies to Ben & Jerry’s, including for the company’s chocolate fudge brownie ice cream, while also offering brownies through its own branded channels. Product sales provide earned income for the bakery and support the Greyston Foundation’s community programs.

• Baked goods

  Greyston branded baked goods

  Greyston Bakery sells baked goods under its own name, including products distributed through online channels. These offerings extend the organization beyond contract supply and give customers a direct way to purchase products associated with its open-hiring and community-investment mission.

• Co-branded baked goods

  Whole Planet Foundation co-branded baked goods

  Greyston has produced a co-branded line with the Whole Planet Foundation that was sold exclusively at Whole Foods Market. The collaboration connected Greyston’s social-enterprise model with a retail program associated with Whole Planet Foundation.

• 2012

  Adoption of benefit-corporation statusStrategy

  Background

  Greyston’s business model combined commercial production with an explicit community and employment mission.

  Action taken

  Greyston Bakery became New York State’s first registered benefit corporation.

  Aftermath

  The bakery’s social objectives received a formal legal place alongside its commercial purposes.

  Source

• 2004

  Relocation to a larger production facilityStrategy

  Background

  Greyston needed additional capacity as the bakery expanded its commercial activity.

  Action taken

  The bakery moved to a larger facility designed by Maya Lin.

  Aftermath

  The move enabled the bakery to accommodate growth while continuing its employment-centered operating model.

  Source

1. 1Greyston Bakeryen.wikipedia.org