|
|
In 1896, King Arthur Flour's three owners were stumped.
Mark Taylor, George Wood, and Orin Sands were rolling out a new flour,
but they were stumped on the name. They needed to somehow express the
flour's premium characteristics -- its integrity, strength, reliability,
and superior performance. As you know by now, they chose the name King
Arthur, a name so powerful it eventually stood for the company itself.
Today, we are over 160 owners. And we realize that being named after
the legendary knight carries the obligation of upholding his virtues. This
obligation reaches through our products to our very business dealings.
Like our predecessors of 1896, we want our products and corporate life to
express the same integrity, strength, reliability, and superior
performance.
That's why, when stumped for a new management approach in the early
1990's, we again looked to the Arthurian round table for inspiration. It
seemed only natural to structure ourselves the way Arthur and his knights
did, as a team built on inclusion and collaboration. In 1996, we launched
an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), putting ownership of King Arthur
Flour in the hands of everyone at the table.
The result is a corporate culture of incredible passion and sincerity
that propels us to honor our customers and celebrate a company we can
truly call our own. Some may scoff at such high ideals in today's business
world. But to us, there is no other way to successfully run a company --
especially your own.
|
|
|
