John Talbot of the California Milk Advisory Board: Five Strategies Our Company Is Using To Tackle Climate Change & Become More Sustainable
The dairy industry is a bowl of spaghetti — organizations, relationships, layers, overlaps, and intersections. Somehow it all works together deliciously, which is crazy.
As part of my series about companies helping to battle climate change, I had the pleasure of interviewing John Talbot, CEO of the California Milk Advisory Board.
As CEO of the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), John Talbot brings more than 30 years of marketing and brand management experience to his role representing the number one dairy state in the U.S., building awareness and demand for California milk and dairy products across the U.S. and around the world.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
That goes way back. I wanted to be a doctor, and halfway through undergrad, I decided that career path wasn’t for me and shifted majors. My first job out of college was selling laundry detergent for Procter & Gamble. I was in and out of grocery stores all day long and got a genuine appreciation for why one product sold vs. another. I went back to business school with a strong interest in marketing and consumer products. After school, I spent the next 12 years at Pepsi. I loved consumer research, positioning and advertising. That led me through an exciting career adventure over the past 30 years, working in brand management and new product development, from technology to agriculture.
What is the mission of your organization? What problems are you aiming to solve?
Our mission is to drive demand for products made with Real California Milk. It’s all about finding new ways to get consumers interested in and buying our products. What really is demand? Beyond its basic economic roots, increasing demand is ultimately about satisfying consumer needs as they ebb and flow in a constantly evolving marketplace. Maybe, more importantly, we believe our purpose is to nourish the world with the wholesome goodness of Real California Milk. Dairy uniquely delivers the nutritional and emotional benefits that enrich people’s lives and help sustain the world’s growing population.
Consumers are constantly looking for foods that provide flavor and functionality to help them achieve optimal health. Two years ago, we developed the Real California Milk EXCELerator program to encourage and support companies to innovate with dairy. This year’s competition focuses on new dairy products with the functional benefits of enhanced performance and recovery to help provide solutions to consumers prioritizing personal health and wellness.
Can you tell our readers about the initiatives you or your organization are taking to address climate change or sustainability? Can you give an example for each?
Sustainability is a challenging topic to define clearly. Essentially, the natural, human, and economic resources required to make a product should not be permanently depleted in the process or cause irreparable damage to the planet. When we think about sustainability, one element that is of most concern to consumers and government agencies is a product’s impact on the environment, which is mainly, in our case, focused on methane emissions from the cows.
The efforts of the California dairy industry to mitigate and reduce methane emissions are paying off. By using innovative technologies, including methane digesters, feed additives, and other manure management initiatives, California is more than halfway to achieving a statewide goal of reducing methane emissions by 40% by 2030.
Dairy farmers continue to show their commitment to using resources, including water, efficiently. The same water is used multiple times in a dairy. The water required to produce a gallon of milk has reduced 88% over the past 50 years.
There is a ton of misinformation about the impact of dairy on the environment with much of it being propagated by activists. We are working with scientists at UC Davis to quantify the actual impact of dairy and the improvements the California dairy industry has been making over the long term. California dairies’ carbon footprint has been shrinking for decades — 45% over the past 50 years — and is among the smallest carbon footprints per gallon of milk produced in the world.
How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?
For many years, your sustainability story was a “tie-breaker” in your sales pitch. Now it is table stakes. The expectations are so much more significant on the part of customers and consumers. We must have a strong sustainability story and lead with it. It’s not a nice to do; it’s a must do.
And while an incredible investment is being made on behalf of the dairy industry and its partners, sustainability efforts can reduce costs and even generate new revenue sources in several ways. One example is electricity generation through wind/solar power or the conversion of methane to biogas. Second, using more efficient LED lighting, variable speed pumps and high-efficiency refrigeration helps reduce energy use. Third, through optimized feed rations to maximize milk production. Fourth, by using precision irrigation of feed crops, no/low till farming and renewable fertilizers we increase yields. And fifth, through optimal management of manure, leveraging technologies to capture its nutrients and turning it into biogas for transportation and energy production.
The youth-led climate strikes of September 2019 showed an impressive degree of activism and initiative by young people on climate change. It was great, and there’s still so much to work to do. In your opinion, what are five things parents should do to inspire the next generation to become engaged in sustainability and the environmental movement? Please give a story or an example for each.
Any parent would love to see their kids take the initiative to use their voice to drive change. It’s happening whether parents are leading them are not. Kids see the need to take things into their own hands. More and more, we see what’s most important in the world through the eyes of our kids — and these five are among the most important things parents need to do:
1. Admit to the mistakes we have made that have led to much of this climate change dilemma
2. Sensitize kids to the delicate balance in the environment and the potential impact of manmade pollutants
3. Encourage them to be inquisitive and to explore the world around them
4. Provide opportunities for them to get involved through volunteering
5. Encourage them to take leadership positions in addressing these issues and challenge the status quo
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
1. The dairy industry is a bowl of spaghetti — organizations, relationships, layers, overlaps, and intersections. Somehow it all works together deliciously, which is crazy.
2. There are people telling the world that dairy is bad, with no rationale and false information. The anti-dairy sentiment can be vicious about a product that is so good for people.
3. It is a real intellectual challenge and an opportunity to show people the emotional value of dairy products.
4. It’s a 24/7 job with a highly committed community. Even having come from similar businesses in agriculture, I was blown away by the closeness of the community and the willingness to help each other out.
5. The dairy community is rock solid. There is an instant bond between those who work in dairy. People are so passionate and emotionally bonded to it. It’s a massive asset to the industry.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My father was a “do-it-yourselfer” in the extreme sense of the term. He would tackle any household project himself. It was not because of economic need, but was driven by independence and creativity; he loved solving problems. There was no fear of the unknown. He would jump in and figure it out. This kind of confidence and ingenuity has stayed with me my whole life.
Another thing that was instilled in me at Pepsi, particularly as a younger executive, was that you must always be ready to give your opinion. Typically in meetings, the more junior people would be asked to speak first, so you needed to be prepared with thought-provoking comments. The more insightful those opinions were, the more respect you garnered in the organization.
You are a person of significant influence and doing some great things for the world! If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most significant amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
For 25 years, I have been saying that sugar is the next tobacco. Many of my Pepsi friends laughed at the notion early on, but I have stuck with it, and science is finally coming around to the same conclusion. Sugar consumption is an addiction like tobacco. It is the primary contributing factor to obesity, diabetes and a host of other health issues. The challenge is that sugar is in nearly everything we eat, so eliminating it entirely is impossible. But there is so much people can do to cut out the more egregious consumption of excessively sugared products.
Do you have a favorite life lesson quote? Can you tell us how that was relevant to you in your own life?
I like to talk about change — because change is hard, particularly in the dairy industry. Farmers don’t always like change. A favorite quote from Jack Welch is, “When the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” We have to embrace change.
A line that I have used several times myself is, “When looking into the future, we may not always like what we see, but it is better to face those fears and control our destiny than hide from reality and let others control our fate.” The future is scary, and change is scary, but you must take the initiative to overcome life’s challenges. Otherwise, you will have to be satisfied with whatever falls in your lap.
Another that has guided me as a person is a line from a U2 song, “You have to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, and scream without raising your voice.” To me, this means being compassionate for others, listening first, being judicious with your words, letting your actions speak for themselves, modeling the behavior you would like to see in others, leading with humility, and doing good in the world.
What is the best way for people to follow you on social media?
The best way to connect is through Real California Milk social channels:
Facebook, YouTube: @realcaliforniamilk
Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest: @realcalifmilk
LinkedIn: California Milk Advisory Board
This was so inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
John Talbot of the California Milk Advisory Board: Five Strategies Our Company Is Using To Tackle… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.