Bob Moore, who founded Bob's Red Mill, has died
Bob Moore, founder of whole-grain brand Bob’s Red Mill, is remembered for building a high-quality food company and then transferring 100% ownership to employees via an ESOP instead of selling to large corporations. Commenters highlight his late-career reinvention, religiously inspired ethics, and resistance to profit-maximizing pressures as a counterexample to private equity–driven degradation of products and workplaces. The thread branches into broader reflections on worker ownership, the role of religion and morals in business, and how corporate incentives shape food quality and public health.
Perceptions of Bob and His Company
- Widely praised as generous, humble, and a “mensch”; multiple locals recount charitable giving, simple personal lifestyle, and positive in-person encounters.
- Turning the company over to employees via an ESOP is seen as a strong values statement, contrasted with founders who “sell out” to private equity.
- Many regard his life as an example of prioritizing fairness, community, and product quality over maximum personal enrichment.
Employee Ownership and ESOP Mechanics
- Article detail noted: gradual transition to 100% employee ownership via ESOP over about a decade.
- Clarifications that ESOPs usually involve selling to a trust at a conservative valuation, not “giving away” the firm.
- Benefits cited: employees share in profits and value; potential for more stable, long-term orientation; alignment of incentives.
- Pitfalls discussed:
- Concentration risk for employees’ retirement savings.
- Limited liquidity and internal-only markets for shares.
- Governance that can still be top‑down; “employee-owned” doesn’t guarantee democratic control.
- Possible difficulty making painful changes (e.g., layoffs, automation) in competitive downturns.
- ESOPs are complex and expensive to administer.
Religion, Morality, and Business Quality
- Long thread on how religious motivation can drive “irrational” commitments to quality and fairness, with Bob’s biblical rationale for employee ownership as an example.
- Others push back: quality is not exclusive to religious people; many religious-branded products are low quality.
- Fasting and food rules (kosher, halal, Orthodox practices) are discussed as tools for self‑control, empathy with the poor, and structured, sometimes health‑aligned habits, though several note these can be fully secular.
Capitalism, Optimization, and Social Outcomes
- Repeated critique of “rational” profit‑maximizing behavior: private equity rollups, shareholder‑value focus, and ultra‑processed foods are framed as locally rational but socially harmful.
- Historical food adulteration and modern ultra‑processing are used as analogies for current tech issues (ad‑driven web, social media “poisoning” information supply).
- Some defend optimization as often about genuine efficiency improvements, not just quality erosion, while others emphasize job losses and inequality.
- Debate over unions and innovation: one commenter asserts unions can hamper efficiency; another cites research suggesting unions can also improve process innovation.
Christianity, Socialism, and Economic Systems
- Subthread on how various Christian traditions view wealth: from criticism of hoarding and “prosperity gospel” to support for fair wages and community welfare.
- Some argue Christian thought helped shape socialist and welfare ideals; others reject the idea that socialism depends on Christianity.
- Clarifications that worker co‑ops and ESOPs are still capitalist, not the same as Marxist “no private ownership” or Soviet “soviets.”
Product Experiences and Food/Health Angles
- Numerous testimonials for Bob’s products: oats (especially steel‑cut), muesli, flours, gluten‑free mixes, polenta, pancake mixes, nutritional yeast, flax as egg substitute, and bulk grains.
- Celiac and food‑sensitive commenters credit the brand with making restrictive diets more livable.
- Some discuss preparation techniques (e.g., savory oats, frozen blueberries, rice‑cooker methods) and texture preferences; one critic finds some oats too mushy.
- Contrast drawn between minimally processed products like Bob’s and ultra‑processed junk foods such as Pop‑Tarts.
Startups, Longevity, and Measures of Success
- Reflection that building a durable, employee‑benefiting, high‑quality food company may be more meaningful than fast‑exit tech startups.
- Others note longevity is only one success metric, and that different businesses optimize for different goals.
- Side discussion critiques “maximize shareholder value” and “growth at all costs” as narrow lenses; Bob’s approach is held up as an alternative model.