Crisp is one of Inc.’s Best Workplaces of 2021

When Dag Liodden and I founded Crisp, we thought about the work culture we wanted to build as much as the product we wanted to build: a place where our team is supported and energized to do the most rewarding work of their careers. So it gives me great pleasure to announce that Crisp has been named one of the year’s Best Workplaces in Inc. Magazine.

After evaluating thousands of companies and surveying their employees, Inc.’s list recognizes the exceptional workplaces that cultivate vibrant cultures, deep employee engagement, and excellent benefits programs. These are all qualities that have been baked into Crisp’s culture as a fully distributed company from day one, even prior to the pandemic. We were delighted to see the results: for example, that all of Crisp’s employees who took Inc.’s survey are rated “highly engaged”; that 100% of women felt they had opportunities to grow in their careers at Crisp; and that everyone agreed that our senior leaders value people as their most important resource. 

Crisp was founded on the belief that we can make a positive impact in the world through efficiency and technology. Our goal is to avoid waste in the food industry and create a work culture for our employees that is both collaborative and fulfilling for an entire career. Our first company value is that “our parents should be very proud of what we do.” To achieve this, Dag and I thought long and hard about enabling our team to do their best work each day, minimizing all the setbacks we saw at past companies (we even made a list). We designed Crisp’s everyday culture to reduce “work waste”: all the things that take up our team’s time and energy during the day but aren’t necessary to real progress. We have eliminated internal email, have few regularly occurring meetings, and embrace asynchronous collaboration via tools like Slack and Confluence, so our team can focus on workflows that make them happiest and most productive. 

Another constant goal has been to stay connected to one another as we grow our fully remote team. We cherish our twice yearly all-company offsites and regional meet-ups for valuable in-person time — but when the pandemic kept us from doing this, we continued to refine our model of virtual gatherings and tech-enabled collaboration that balanced independent work with communication and togetherness. We enjoyed experiences separately and together, from reading the same book to taking elective classes to shipping a favorite customer’s ice creams (that’s you High Road!) to everyone’s home. Keeping the “culture of us”, where we all work together towards the same common goal, has been a major priority this year, and I believe a reason we were able to win this award even during a time of so much disruption. Finally, we continue to build a team that is not only diverse across geographies, nationalities, and gender identity, but that’s inclusive of all voices and embraces dialogue at every level. 

Companies nominated for Inc.’s recognition took part in an employee survey, where our team provided anonymous feedback on topics ranging from management effectiveness to employee perks to confidence in the future. What particularly stood out to me was the most common word employees used when describing what they like about working at Crisp: “challenging.” What we’re doing isn’t easy, and I love that our team is along for the ride and inspired to do challenging, but rewarding, work together.

Crisp indeed has ambitious goals ahead, tackling opportunities that will transform the retail industry, reduce food waste, and help the climate. Just as exciting, we’ll continue building a workplace where employees are energized, engaged, and proud of what they do every day. I’m so pleased with what our team has created together so far, and look forward to more amazing work in the years to come.

To stay tuned on company updates and industry insights from Crisp, subscribe to the blog.