Editor’s Note: CNN viewers likely know Cristina Alesci, a business reporter on the network and a writer on its news sites since 2014. In turn, Alesci knows CEOs, having interviewed dozens, from Howard Schultz to Jamie Dimon. She also interviewed Hamdi Ulukaya, founder of Chobani. More important, her 2015 CNN story was about the refugees Chobani employs. “He was not only hiring great people; he was saving them...helping people break down the barriers to a better life in America,” Alesci says.
The story hit Alesci, the daughter of immigrant parents, hard. Late last year she left CNN and joined Chobani as its first chief corporate affairs officer, reporting to Chobani president and COO Peter McGuinness. She leads external and internal communication, government and community relations, social impact and philanthropy. In addition, she’s part of the company’s executive leadership team.
When we mention authenticity, she responds, “I was offered a lot of positions. This is the only one that spoke to my values...I don’t know how much more authentic I can be.” When we say, ‘We make all-natural food that’s accessible to everybody’–not just to hipsters in Brooklyn–we actually mean it. Chobani speaks to me. That’s as authentic as it gets.”
She and John Kell, the company’s media lead, assure us Hamdi remains very active in the company’s mission to provide nutritious food at reasonable prices and change the world. In fact, that the company is founder-led is one of Chobani’s advantages, Kell says.
And the company’s growing. In 2019, Chobani posted double-digit growth across its oat milk, creamers, functional wellness drinks and yogurt businesses in groceries and online, according to Nielsen U.S. Food.
In light of the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol and the social, racial and economic unrest of 2020, we asked Alesci how CEOs are thinking about promises many companies made last year, as well as what a veteran journalist brings to a corporate setting.
PRNEWS: Companies issued a lot of strong messages during 2020. Will consumers in 2021 be checking to see if these messages lead to action?
Cristina Alesci: I covered business for a dozen years…the financial crisis and its aftermath. I saw people losing their homes. I saw office workers crying as they lost their jobs. And last year, for the first time as a journalist, I started believing some of the stuff I was reading in press releases, that companies were actually going to [make good on their promises].
And here’s why. I spoke to a lot of CEOs, off the record. [The reason they will make good on 2020’s promises] is because they have to...Companies that don’t live up to their promises will not survive. There’s going to be a massive shakeout...People will hold those companies accountable if they’re not living up to their promises. They will lose customers and won’t be able to attract the best talent, and their businesses will crumble.
PRNEWS: So, 2020 was a watershed.
Alesci: As a journalist who interviewed CEOs for 12 years, I have to say there was a coming-to-Jesus moment last year. Everyone believed what they said...that we have to make a change...everyone believes those changes have to happen. The question now becomes execution...If you don’t execute right, you’re done.
I talked to CEO after CEO who said, ‘It’s not just the customers anymore. It’s the employees who are holding us accountable. The employees want to see change. We can’t hide anymore. We can’t point to these fancy, consultant-produced pieces of research to justify what we’re doing. We can’t twist ourselves into a pretzel to justify what we’re doing. We have to make a change, as difficult and expensive as that can be.’
PRNEWS: What do you tell Chobani about media?
Alesci: It’s a little bit of what they already know, which is, ‘Don’t bullshit the press.’ The media knows how to hold people accountable and we should never mess with that. What I think I bring to the table is an absolute insider’s view that will never go away. I will always consider myself a storyteller and a journalist at heart...I will bring that perspective to work every single day.
PRNEWS: Compare your journalism job to your new post.
Alesci:I went into journalism to tell stories, to help society and give a voice to the voiceless. For me, I think what I’m doing at Chobani is an extension of that. You’re still telling stories at a company that’s giving a voice to the voiceless. We’re doing so much to raise awareness of issues like child hunger and better treatment of hourly employees.
My job as a journalist was to make those kind of stories acceptable, entertaining, to a certain extent...meaningful and impactful. That’s what I’m doing here. I’m here to show the world what we’re doing [on issues and as a modern food company]. Not tell the world, but show the world. We don’t go out and bang the drum much about what we’re doing.
PRNEWS: Chobani wants to ‘change the world.’ How?
Alesci: I’m a big believer in the journalism adage, ‘Show don’t tell.’ We already do so much to show that we’re living our values. During the pandemic, we raised wages for our hourly workforce. We were one of the few companies to provide childcare for our hourly workforce...We’re sending a truck a day of food to food banks around the country...
We’re showing the world that you can grow and expand and be a smart business and at the same time make a positive impact in the world.
PRNEWS: What about taking stands? How does Chobani think about the risk involved?
Alesci:I’m going to speak from the heart. There’s no risk in standing up for what’s right. And we don’t do that by issuing a statement. We do that by hiring refugees, by highlighting their stories, by pushing for a reasonable immigration reform that makes sense...We should recognize the pain and suffering in our communities...issuing a press release or a statement is easy. We don’t do that.
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