Tricia Wallwork
CEO and Chair of Milo’s Tea Company and Granddaughter of Founder Milo Carlton
L ove and family are the foundation of Milo’s Tea Company, which was founded by my grandparents 78 years ago. Our company culture promotes PeopleFirst behaviors that create opportunities for growth and prosperity for our family, our associates, and the communities we serve. We believe in Purposeful Profits that ensure Prosperity for People and help Protect Our Planet NOW.
As a third-generation family CEO, I have challenged the Milo’s TEAm to positively impact more lives and to find ways to reduce our potential impacts on the planet – all while we continue to exponentially grow our business. It’s not easy when you’re growing as fast as we are. As a familyowned company, we don’t always have the resources to do everything we dream of. We can, however, strive to be best-in-class for our size in the face of such remarkable growth. Prioritizing PeopleFirst, Protecting Our Planet, and Purposeful Profits is making a positive impact throughout our ecosystem. Since 2019, Milo’s has recycled and diverted 148,427 tons of waste – the
equivalent of more than 145,000 cars! Last year, we installed a rooftop solar system at our Alabama facility. This system will offset about 5% of our annual energy use at our Bessemer facility and remove the annual carbon equivalent of 89.5 cars! We’re not stopping there. We are installing rooftop solar in our Tulsa facility in 2024. Because water is the number one ingredient in all our products, we take protecting this resource very seriously at Milo’s. We’ve implemented systems to reduce wasted water through reuse in production, conserving nearly 37 million gallons of water since 2019.
As we lay bricks and mortar on our fourth site in Spartanburg, SC, it brings me joy to think about the positive impact we will make when we 10x our TEAm again. I am fueled by the opportunity to make the world a little sweeter by providing pathways to economic prosperity for people and protecting our planet for future generations. We are growing responsibly, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share this piece of our growth story with you.
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH
REQUIRES EXPONENTIAL POSITIVE IMPACT.
In 2023, Milo’s once again grew revenue and profit by double digit percentages. Our continued success drives us to constantly question: Are we increasing our positive impact on people while decreasing our impact on planet?
MILO’S 2023
IMPACT
REPORT IS DESIGNED TO HIGHLIGHT WHERE WE’RE DELIVERING ON THESE GOALS AND CALL OUT AREAS WE STILL NEED TO SCALE AS FAST OUR BUSINESS IS GROWING.
2023 IMPACT AT A GLANCE
WOMEN AT MILO’S
34% OF SALARIES GO TO WOMEN
GROWTH PATHWAYS
~$550,000 INVESTED IN ASSOCIATE LEARNING
30+ LEARNING HOURS ANNUALLY PER ASSOCIATE
PROTECTING OUR PLANET
97% WASTE RECYCLED AND DIVERTED
38% OF LEADERS ARE WOMEN
22,000+ LEARNING HOURS LOGGED BY MILO’S ASSOCIATES
~270 LEARNING TEAM LED WORKSHOPS
41,572 TONS WASTE RECYCLED + DIVERTED
10,000+ TONS TEA LEAF RE-EARTHED
28% PROMOTIONS TO WOMEN
PURPOSEFUL PARTNERSHIPS
27% ASSOCIATES GIVING TIME
46% ASSOCIATES GIVING MMAD$
~$210,000 IN 1% PROFIT PLEDGE MONETARY DONATIONS
* CALCULATED AT FAIR MARKET VALUE
~$1MM RENEWABLE ENERGY INVESTMENT AND 2% PROJECTED ANNUAL ENERGY OFFSET
OUR APPROACH TO POSITIVE IMPACT
Milo’s is building systems and empowering associates to create lasting impact on People, Planet, and Profit. We keep the story simple by focusing on three components:
PATHWAYS FOR PROSPERITY FOR ALL 1
• Gender Pay Equity
• Growth Pathways for 100% of Associates
• Associate engagement donating time and money
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3
PROTECT OUR PLANET
• Recycling and Reuse of manufacturing waste
• Carbon Reductions in Manufacturing
• Remarkable Water Stewardship
PURPOSEFUL PARTNERSHIPS: COMMUNITY LIVES POSITIVELY IMPACTED
• Milo’s 1% Pledge
• Purposeful Partnerships across our ecosystems
GROWTH AND PROSPERITY
We believe in hiring and growing authentic leaders, delivering the most delicious quality products on time and in full to our customers, and giving back to the communities we serve.
We call this living PeopleFirst. As our business grows exponentially, we are hyper-focused on growing our people and investing in their futures.
Pay Equity
Our third-party pay equity audit showed 100% of roles are fairly paid.
At Milo’s, we are scaling ourselves as quickly as this 78-yearold start up is growing. It starts with attracting the best, most diverse talent possible and paying top of market to all. Our third-party pay equity study ensures Milo’s isn’t just attracting remarkable talent, but we’re paying salaries that match.
Pathways for Growth for 100% of Associates
In 2023 Milo’s more than doubled the Association for Talent Development benchmark for learning, reporting 31 learning hours per associate.
• We offer a $7,500 per year for tuition reimbursement.
• Our Learning TEAm is creating Pathways for Growth for 100% of associates.
• In 2023, 223 associates across all Milo’s manufacturing sites graduated from HPWS, a structured growth pathways program designed for 500 manufacturing associates.
100% Employer Paid Family Health Insurance Premiums
Milo’s pays 100% of family health premiums, vastly exceeding the industry standard of 67%.* This was an $8 Million investment in 2023 alone. This provides a level of financial and wellness security for our associates, allowing them to be their best at work and with their families.
* U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: The Economics Daily, March 9, 2023
Associate-Led Giving Back
In 2023, 27% of Milo’s associates donated time through volunteerism and 46% gave a piece of Milo’s 1% Profit Pledge back to causes they hold close to heart.
Personal growth doesn’t only happen within our walls. Associates are equipped with $100 annually in MMAD $ (or Milo’s Makes a Difference Money) to give to nonprofit causes of choice. Together, we also donated 1,740 hours in volunteer time. Looking ahead, we are aiming for a 75% volunteer engagement rate because at Milo’s, our purpose is rooted in making a difference together.
Our history, our growth, and our future are rooted in strong, female leadership.
As a Certified Women Owned Business, we understand the importance of uplifting and empowering women to achieve their dreams.
Associate Engagement: Women’s Belonging Resource Group
Launched in December 2023 with a purpose of creating an inclusive community of women and allies at Milo’s Tea Company, and empowering women to own and grow their careers by being their authentic selves.
PRIORITIES
• Raise the visibility of women associates at Milo’s
• Celebrate our unique contributions and perspectives
• Foster personal and professional development
• Broaden our support network
• Build allyship
• Influence positive change
What makes our work fulfilling isn’t just the tasks we complete or the tangible benefits we receive. It is also the connections we make and the sense of belonging we feel.
“Our business may be named after my grandad, but there would be no Milo’s Tea Company, Inc. without Mama Bea. She was a key driver for the first generation of our family business as the bookkeeper, pie maker, and cashier at the hamburger shop in North Birmingham, Alabama.
When my parents started selling tea in grocery stores in the late 1980’s, she worked at our small, rented warehouse space washing buckets and baking cakes for every employee when they had a birthday.
Mama Bea died in August 2015, so I was blessed with her love and example much of my life. She was a working mom before that was something women did, raising two boys from the 1940’s onward day in and day out without a complaint. She was a female trailblazer and didn’t even know it! I would not be the woman I am today without her and many strong women who raised me.”
- TRICIA WALLWORK, MILO’S CEO
In 2023, Milo’s launched our 90+ member Women’s Belonging Resource Group in honor of Bea Carlton, co-founder of Milo’s Tea Company and grandmother of CEO Tricia Wallwork. Today, at Milo’s, we are brewing a legacy rooted in the leadership of strong women like Bea, Tricia, and the hundreds of women at Milo’s who are growing our Certified Women-Owned business.
Together we are uplifting and empowering not just women at Milo’s, but women and girls across the nation. Milo’s associates are empowered to connect, engage, and grow. Associates are sharing their truth with one another and within our communities through volunteer opportunities, shared learning, and facilitated conversations.
PROTECTING OUR PLANET APPROACH
Photo Credit: Beth Stewart, Cahaba River Society
Protecting Our Planet Approach
Environmental stewardship isn’t new to Milo’s. Since 2019, Milo’s has recycled and diverted 148,427 TONS of waste (that’s almost 300 MILLION pounds, the weight of more than 145,000 cars!) We are also reducing and reusing water in production. In that time, we’ve conserved nearly 37 million gallons of water. That’s as much as a ten-acre lake!
Milo’s 2023 Positive Impact on the Planet Includes:
• ~$1MM Renewable Energy Investment and 2% Projected Annual Energy Offset
• 97% Waste Recycled and Diverted
• 10,392 Tons of Tea Leaf Re-Earthed
Zero Waste is just the beginning. Our commitments to renewable energy put our mid-size, family-owned company shoulder-to-shoulder with global beverage manufacturers. We’re making huge investments in ensuring a better planet for generations to come.
Zero Waste
Our TRUE Platinum Zero Waste Certification administered by the Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) is an achievement we have worked hard to uphold since 2020. Milo’s was the second company in Alabama and the first in Oklahoma to receive the Platinum Certified Zero Waste Manufacturer designation. We divert 97% of our waste, including tea leaves that are composted for local use.
Milo’s follows the Zero Waste Internation Alliance’s (ZWIA)
Waste Hierarchy of the 5 R’s to divert waste from the landfill. The 5R’s include: Redesign, reduce, reuse, re-earth (aka composting), and recycle. Milo’s utilizes each of these strategies to achieve our current 97% waste diversion rate and will continue to prioritize diversion to reduce negative environmental impact to land, air, and water.
Remarkable Water Stewardship
Water stewardship within our operations and in the communities we call home is a critical sustainability priority. Through relationships with fellow corporate partners and watershed advocates, Milo’s is building a Water Advisory Council to guide our efforts in providing cleaner, healthier water upstream and downstream of our facilities.
Zero Waste Case Study for Re-Earth
Our Bessemer, AL facility achieved Platinum Zero Waste in 2020, the same year our Tulsa facility opened. This timing provided an extra sweet opportunity to open our Tulsa site with Zero Waste operations and partners from the start.
In Tulsa, Milo’s partners with GEM Dirt to compost and process our tea leaf waste. GEM Dirt is a local business that is committed to environmentally positive land practices. This makes them a perfect partner for our Zero Waste program, helping us Re-Earth over 10,000 tons of tea leaf in Tulsa since the plant opened!
REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
GENERATING RENEWABLE ENERGY
Supplier Partnership: Eagle Solar + Light
Investing in renewable energy is a key strategy in Milo’s commitment to reducing our carbon footprint. In 2023, Milo’s partnered with Eagle Solar and Light to design and install a rooftop solar system at our Bessemer, AL facility. This system will offset ~ 5% of our annual energy use at our Bessemer facility and remove the annual carbon equivalent of 89.5 cars (EPA Source). This installation is expected to pay for itself within 4 years.
Our commitment to clean energy was further emphasized this year when Milo’s was awarded a Small Business Grant from the USDA to fund a second renewable energy system at our Oklahoma facility. Installation of this system started in 2023 and will begin generating electricity in 2024.
ONSITE BOTTLE BLOWING IN BESSEMER
Supplier Partnership: Altium Packing
In Bessemer, Alabama, Milo’s has TEAmed with Altium Packaging to build a bottle blowing facility next to our manufacturing facility. This project will eliminate the hundreds of miles of trucking needed for Milo’s bottles to reach our manufacturing plants, and result in 890,000 Metric Tons of avoided CO2 emissions.
While we believe these are incredible achievements in carbon reduction, the pursuit of carbon emission reductions is complex and will require further collaboration with our supply chain partners to achieve. 2023 was a year of baselining our carbon use and road-mapping emission reductions within our manufacturing operations. This is the first step in creating energy transformation as we connect our carbon goals to every area of our business.
At Milo’s Tea Company, we believe it is our responsibility to give back to the communities that fuel our growth.
Purposeful Partnerships Approach
Through our 1% Profit Pledge, Milo’s gives monetary and product donations to communities and organizations that align with our values and focus areas of Education and Advancement for All, Better Planet for Generations, and Community Disaster Relief.
Milo’s 2023 Corporate Giving Impact:
• $775,000+ in Profits Given Back to Communities
• 115+ Nonprofit Organizations Supported
• 50% Associate Engagement Rate
• 27% of Associates Volunteering 1,700+ Hours
• 46% of Associates Giving $32k+ in MMAD $
SHARE THE JOY
Purposeful Partner: Feeding America
Milo’s hosted a Day of Sharing Joy in December, 2023. Nearly one hundred Milo’s associates volunteered at local Feeding America partner food banks in New York City, Birmingham, Tulsa, Atlanta, and Dallas. Feeding America Entertainment Council member Katie Lee Biegel joined Milo’s CEO Tricia Wallwork, along with Milo’s and Feeding America team members, at the Food Bank for New York City and gave a helping hand in packing and sorting food.. In total, TEAm Milo’s packed and distributed 20,551 individual meals for families during this oneday volunteer initiative across five communities.
Sparking Joy Through Product Donations
Our purpose at Milo’s is to spark joy every day. In 2023, through Purposeful Partnerships, Milo’s donated more than 1.1 million servings of tea to emergency feeding organizations and nonprofit fundraising events.
Milo’s Employee Contributions to Causes
We believe our TEAm members should also support missions close to their hearts. We empower each associate with $100 annually to donate to nonprofit partners of their choice. We call that Milo’s Makes a Difference Dollars (or MMAD$ for short).
Paid Volunteer Time Off
Time and talent are among the most impactful ways to give. That’s why we offer paid time off for volunteerism. We organize annual company-wide volunteer events and offer each associate an additional eight hours annually to volunteer for the cause of their choice.
Volunteer MVPs
Each quarter, we uplift the associate with the most reported volunteer hours and ask them a simple question: “What does volunteering mean to you?” The responses inspire and demonstrate Milo’s culture of giving and positively impacting our communities.
Volunteer VIP Missy Ellis
Missy Ellis, Real Estate Project Manager
“Volunteering means feeling a connection to my community. I do not want to be a person who just takes; I want to give back. Being in your community, particularly outside your neighborhood, helps provide a different perspective, which in turn makes us better people and better neighbors. I volunteer because my grandmother set a strong example volunteering for numerous civic and non-profit organizations my entire life. She taught us all that a community is only as strong as what its citizens are willing to give back.”
Jeff Jackson, Senior Director of Manufacturing
“Volunteering allows me the opportunity to give back . . . It means that I have done my part in having a voice, and it makes my heart happy.”
Dyvonia Bussey, Business Support Associate
“Up until about 10 years ago, I did not see myself as a volunteer or servant-minded. About 10 years ago, my kids wanted to volunteer to help serve with one of our church ministries, Breakfast for the Brave. I gave in. I got so much joy out of cooking and waiting on those who protect us (it is a breakfast for police, first responders and fire fighters), I was hooked and haven’t looked back. That feeling of doing something for someone else, putting others first, and having a few laughs along the way, inspired me.”
Cynthia Little, Sustainability Associate
“I usually volunteer with my church, but since the pandemic we haven’t. This was just a balm for my soul. The fellowship, working with a common goal, the positive energy! I had such a wonderful time... different departments coming together for one purpose and achieving this with enthusiasm and motivation.”
POSITIVE IMPACT ON PLANET
Birmingham Community-Led Shades Creek Watershed Plan
Water is the number one ingredient for life and in our great tasting products. That’s why protecting 300 miles of watershed near our facilities is a priority. Our approach to watershed stewardship begins with Purposeful Partnerships with watershed advocates like Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Cahaba River Society, and The Nature Conservancy of Alabama.
In Birmingham, Alabama, Milo’s has teamed up with local non-profits, including The Nature Conservancy, to advance a watershed management plan for the Shades Creek Watershed, the water source tea and lemonade made in Bessemer.
This community-led planning process aims to restore the quality and protect the health of this watershed. The Shades Creek system offers recreational spots, supplies drinking water, and provides habitat for many protected species. This watershed management plan will benefit Shades Creek by improving the ecosystem’s water quality, protecting the natural resources within the watershed, and reducing flooding issues caused by urbanization.
Photo Credit: Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior Riverkeeper
TRACKING OUR IMPACT
At Milo’s, we’re evolving our metrics to align our growth journey. As we look ahead toward future years and desired impact, we’ll take a Triple Bottom Line approach to measuring success - doing good for people, planet, and profits.
2023 SCORECARD
Women Leaders of People
Growth Pathways
$ Spend Per Associate on Paid Development
Back
BIPOC Leaders of People Avg. Annual Learning Hrs Per Associate % Workforce Volunteering*
Contributions to Nonprofits
Donations to Nonprofits**
Protecting Our Planet
Gallons Water Reclaimed + Reused
% Diverted from Landfill
Looking Ahead
As we look ahead, we’re honoring our past and embracing our sustainable future where people, planet, and Milo’s profits thrive. The three are intertwined and interdependent. Our purpose is rooted in creating pathways for prosperity for all. That means we’re asking big questions and analyzing how we can be part of big solutions.
WE’RE ASKING QUESTIONS LIKE:
• How can we continue to attract the best, most diverse talent possible and paying top of market to all?
• What improvements are most needed to conserving, preserving, and restoring our watersheds now, and for future generations?
• How can we turn our spent tea into not just compost, but something of value in our supply chain?
As a fast-growing 78-year-old startup, we are making choices each day to scale our company and our people without compromising our commitment to a culture of belonging. 2024 is a critical planning year for energy transformation and water stewardship.
We’re asking tough questions of ourselves in an effort to reach –as we say at Milo’s – BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals). It’s how we live each day, pushing to be a prosperous company so we can support our associates, consumers, suppliers, customers, and our communities in bigger and better ways.
We’d think it would be extra sweet if you would collaborate with us on this journey by sharing honest feedback and asking challenging questions. You can reach out at any time to CorporateResponsibility@ drinkmilos.com.
Milo’s Chair and CEO Tricia Wallwork and son Carlton at Spartanburg facility groundbreaking.
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