Management practices of Russian companies. Vol.1. Коллектив авторов

      Figure 1. Elena Shifrina, BioFoodLab, 2019

      Source: BioFoodLab.

      Immediately after reopening her business production works in the middle of May, 2020, after the first COVID-19 lockdown, Elena Shifrina, the BioFoodLab founder, was very happy to reconvene with her office staff. Having finished her morning rituals – a jog around the neighbourhood, a healthy home-made breakfast with the family – Elena rushed to lead a meeting at the renovated space of Trekhgornaya office in the western downtown of Moscow.

      Alexandra, Anton and Anastasia, BioFoodLab’s R&D, finance and marketing directors correspondingly, had already gathered to make a strategic decision. The decision concerned the commitment the company should take to switch to a more environmentally-friendly packaging solution for its flagship Take a Bite snack bar. The company attributed 60 % of its product success to packaging with stylish design that speaks directly to ‘Generation Z’. The dilemma about how to change the packaging without compromising the company’s values, raising production costs or impairing product quality was on Elena’s mind.

      As she was heading to the office, Elena recalled a recent trip to the BioFoodLab's production site in Moscow’s Khimki district where she welcomed the first guided tour for a group of curious visitors. During the tour, some of the lifestyle of health and sustainability (LOHAS) bloggers who loved the Take a Bite brand for its natural ingredients were upset to see how much packaging materials were used in production and distribution of Bite bars. They questioned what the company was doing to convert their products to environmentally-friendly packaging to avoid over-packaging and waste accumulation. Elena told the guests that BioFoodLab had already made a significant change in packaging for its Bites from the original triplex wrapping to a single plastic one. She emphasized that the key principles of circular economy are embedded in the company’s DNA.

      Figuring out how to deal with the packaging without harming the environment has long been on the company’s list of priorities. Anastasia, the marketing director, insisted on addressing consumers’ calls for action, “Millennials are super conscious consumers and they demand a 100 % environmentally-friendly product.” Alexandra, the R&D director, said, “Given our standards of product quality, expected shelf-life and the current state of environmentally-friendly technology, this would be impossible to achieve in the nearest future.” Anton, the finance director, was also skeptical, reminding his colleagues, “Think about costs of switching to a new equipment and rebranding if we consider changing our packaging.”

      ELENA’S JOURNEY: FROM A STAR STARTUP TO A BUSINESS WITH PURPOSE

      It was a strange journey: from a cat-walk model in Paris and London in the 2000s, to oil company executive for TNK-BP in Moscow in 2005, to the founder of BioFoodLab in 2011 with a $120,000 investment from her own savings. Elena’s company was recognized by Russian Forbes as a ‘Startup of the Year’ in 2013. In 2015, Elena’s BioFoodLab was an ambassador of Russia at the World Expo 2015 in Milan. Now she is the CEO of a business with global ambitions, already selling its products in 14 countries (CIS countries, EU, Arab Emirates and China), with 170 employees and expected turnover of $22 million in 2020.

      As a young girl, Elena was brought up in a typical middle-class family in the South of Russia and never dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur. She wanted to be a customs officer. But she did not pass university entry exams in Russia. So she left the country and worked hard to finance her bachelor degree in business from Regents Business School in London, where she was earning her living as a model and studying at the same time. Quite soon, Elena became disillusioned with modeling, because of the little influence she had in what she was doing. Moreover, she was constantly forced to lose weight and stay on a diet. This was far from her own perceptions of healthy eating habits that her mother had instilled in her when Elena was a child. As she was growing up ballet classes gave her thorough training in the everyday practice of staying fit.

      Figure 2. Healthy snacks, BioFoodLab, 2020

      Source: BioFoodLab.

      Her accountant grandmother taught Elena to carefully calculate her budget, save money and be conscious about using resources in general. A career change to become a corporate executive in oil sector brought Elena back to Moscow and allowed her to accumulate savings. As part of her final project for an MBA degree at Skolkovo Business School Elena put forward an idea to fill a gap in the Russian healthy snacks market inspired by her internship at MIT. The healthy lifestyle that she saw in downtown Boston with people jogging, eating healthy food and the entrepreneurial spirit she felt in the air from all the youngsters running around with their prototypes left a lasting impression on Elena.

      She was so fascinated by the idea of launching a first healthy snack business on the Russian market that one day, after many sleepless nights and doubts, she followed advice of her future husband and registered her own startup, BioFoodLab. She opened a bank account and hired a technologist, her first employee. To Elena’s surprise, her startup created at the Skolkovo co-working space was able to become a profitable business within the first 6 months with a small team of enthusiasts. This was possible without borrowing money, but with only effective management and a desire to make a product that mattered to public health. Elena always remembered what her grandfather, a test pilot who had trained with Yuri Gagarin, said, “The sky is the limit if you work hard and remain true to your values.” Elena’s mission is to go even further and supply astronauts with BioFoodLab’s healthy snack bars, and leave this planet for her kids in a better state.

      BIOFOODLAB’S PRODUCTS: A CO-WORKING CREATION WITH LOCALIZED PRODUCTION

      The first product BioFoodLab launched in 2012 was Take a Bite[1] fruit and nut bar, which consisted only of nuts, fruits and spices. “It was originally made for people who don’t want to choose between tasty and healthy, natural and artificial,” recalls Anastasia. She said that by 2020 the company had a product line with a range of over 50 items. Take a Bite remains the flagship brand followed by its lower calories version, Take a Slim Bite, a special brand for kids – Take a Bitey – and a protein-based cookie, Take a Cyber Bite, for people who are active in sports. “At the moment, around 80 % of ingredients used in production are sourced from multinational suppliers that guarantee high quality and continuous delivery,” pointed out Anton.

      Figure 3. The first guided tour of the production site in Khimki, BioFoodLab, 2020

      Source: BioFoodLab.

      What sets BioFoodLab products apart is that no product contains added sugars, coloring agents or preservatives. This is why they are labeled as authentic healthy snacks. Elena is a 100 % vegan. Her values are reflected in BioFoodLab’s products that are manufactured using gentle processing technology. All products are vegan certified and are suitable for kids and even astronauts. “We all are living LOHAS and we believe in a circular economy, just look at the green wall in our office,” Anastasia proudly stated. “I love running marathons with Elena and Anastasia, and can’t wait for our next one,” added Anton. Elena is not only engaging her own colleagues in LOHAS, but as an active social media user she runs joint campaigns with celebrity bloggers to promote this culture in Russia by focusing on sports, cooking and healthy eating. All members of the management team share a belief that following the ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ principles in the daily business operations is the only way to move business forward.