When a business starts with the simple premise, how can I help feed 200 million hungry children, it gets my attention. Most foodpreneurs start out thinking, how I can make a lot of money. But when motivation to solve a problem drives a business, the “WHY” matters. Say hello to Two Degrees, an energy bar that is making a difference.
Two Degrees*
Will Hauser and Lauren Walters – old friends – decided to start a new kind of food company: one that would make healthy, delicious products and help feed hungry children around the world. They had similar backgrounds – both were the sons of 2 doctors and both decided on business careers instead of medicine. Both always believed that business and helping others were completely compatible.
Will, while an undergraduate at Harvard, led Harvard Student Agencies, the largest student-run business in the world, before going to Goldman Sachs. Lauren is an experienced entrepreneur, investor, lawyer and advisor to companies and nonprofits. Lauren has appeared on NPR Marketplace, and lectured at Harvard, Babson, Sloan, Stern and Berkeley Business Schools. He has been a speaker at the Aspen Institute Ideas Festival and PAIR at Harvard most recently. Be sure to check out his segment on the NBC Today Show with Jane Pauley to learn more about how 2 Degrees began.
Both knew that working to reduce hunger and malnutrition would have a lasting impact on the lives of children around the world. While nonprofits, generous donors and governments were making a difference, Will and Lauren believed that translating ordinary purchases into donations of meals could have an even greater impact on the lives of children everywhere.
Two degrees is sold in over one-thousand stores, but the story they keep telling is about the number of children they are feeding through their business. Like Blake Mycoskie from Tom’s Shoes, their mission is greater than building a brand. They are motivated by the desire to make a difference in the world.
What can you learn from Two Degrees?
- Can you build into your business a powerful purpose that is bigger than profits?
- Can you differentiate yourself from dozens of competitors through your mission?
- Can you leverage the attention, publicity and awareness of your cause, to create a powerful bond and connection with consumers who buy the product in your segment?
- Can you develop a sales pitch based on your backstory that adds motivation for retailers to work with you?
- Can you make a profitable business grow by both delivering an exceptional product AND making a difference in the world?
- Can two people from different generations bring different skills, assets and connections to join forces and build something bigger than themselves.
I have written about KIND bars in the past and their approach through their KIND fund. Two Degrees is carving out a segment within a similar category but with a different twist. Both can co-exist to help do good and make money. Those aren’t mutually exclusive activities.
I haven’t tried Two Degrees so I can ‘t speak about their product with first-hand knowledge, but I am motivated to seek them out. Just two degrees are all that stands between you and a hungry child. What a powerful message.
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*From Two Degrees about me page. Photo screengrab from Two Degrees website. Video from The Today Show.
Interested in ideas to help you blend a powerful WHY into your food business? There is just one degree between us – Connect here.
