The Story Behind IndieClime
It started with a pet food company. As CEO of the company behind Grandma Mae’s Country Naturals and RawTernative, Barry Berman recognized the need for a strong sustainability strategy. With younger, more affluent pet owners increasingly driving the market, sustainability became a key factor in consumer decision-making.
Barry tasked two team members—both Cornell graduates, including his daughter Nathalie—to explore ways to make a meaningful impact.
Their assessment highlighted two key areas to focus on:
Shipping large quantities of bulky pet food bags across the U.S. and internationally.
The difficulty of recycling empty pet food bags, most of which ended up in landfills. While recyclable bags existed, few facilities could process them, and they often didn’t work with existing packaging equipment.
Barry at Company-funded Solar Farm in Mississippi
Powering Change, One Step at a Time
The sustainability team analyzed the carbon emissions from transportation and the plastic waste from discarded bags. To address the carbon impact, the company partnered with an organization to develop a solar farm in northern Mississippi, reducing reliance on coal power in a neighboring state. For packaging, they joined a project focused on plastic retrieval and recovery in developing countries facing solid waste pollution.
The company focused on carbon emissions from shipping to its operations hub and distribution centers, excluding emissions from activities outside its control, like distributor transportation to retail stores. To tackle the issue of non-recyclable pet food bags, they initially achieved “plastic neutrality” for their smaller brand to manage costs. As budgets grew, they expanded this initiative to their larger brand.
Both initiatives aimed to significantly reduce the company’s climate impact while remaining financially feasible for a growing business.
Collaborations
IndieClime is a project of Cornell Sustainability Consultants (CSC) at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. CSC is an organization that brings together students from diverse disciplines, all united by a shared focus on sustainability. As a three-credit course, CSC provides hands-on experience and practical training. The students of CSC are experienced with a wide variety of sustainability strategies for businesses of all sizes and industries.
Education
BA, Cornell University
MA, University of Cambridge
MBA, Harvard Business School
Barry A. Berman
Barry Berman is the founder of two pet industry businesses: Grandma Mae’s Country Naturals Pet Food/RawTernative and the NexPet Retailer Group. Launched in the 2000’s, these brands grew to become among the top 30 sellers in the US by 2023. That year Barry sold a majority interest to a private equity group, which is now using the companies as a platform for further acquisitions. In 2024 Barry helped transition the firm to a new CEO, and stepped down completely in early 2025.
Barry began his career as the third-generation leader of a large flooring distributor & carpet manufacturing company. He led the group’s exit after 70 years of family ownership just before his 40th birthday. Between his ventures in carpeting and pet food, Barry served as CEO at Brinks Inc. (NYSE: BCO) subsidiary overseeing global transportation and insurance for diamonds & jewelry. He also served as President of an $80m distribution subsidiary of Central Garden and Pet (NASDAQ:CENT).
In addition to his business career, Barry was a Professor of Design Marketing at Parsons School of Design, teaching both BBA and BFA students. He is a former Board Chair of the World Pet Association and has served on the board of Parent-Child+ for 22 years.
Barry has been a speaker, panelist or moderator at scores of business conferences, and his monthly columns about management and retailing appeared in industry magazines for twelve years. He is a member of the Entrepreneurship Advisory Council at Cornell University.
In addition to enjoying his native New York City, Barry enjoys escaping to Upstate New York or New England three seasons a year. He is a devoted swimmer and history buff. A lifelong Mets fan, Barry admits to also rooting for the Yankees when the Mets aren't playing.