The buzz about Burt's Bees: as part of the Clorox Co., its revenue and product line wax, but there's still a strain of counter in the corporate culture.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: PICTURE THIS

More than a quarter of a century ago, big-city refugee Burt Shavitz retreated to a farm north of Bangor, Maine, to keep bees. Roxanne Quimby joined him, and they quickly discovered there's more than one way to turn honey makers into moneymakers. When their beeswax candles and lip balm caught on in New York, Burt's Bees Inc. took wing.

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In 1994, it moved to a former textile mill in Creedmoor, north of Durham. "When we were in rural Maine, as we grew we moved from a kitchen into an old schoolhouse, then into a former bowling alley," spokeswoman Gabrielle Prohn says. "But we wanted somewhere it would be easier to ship from, and North Carolina was a business-friendly state. It's also an outdoorsy natural state."

The move paid off. The company expects to gross $250 million this year, and while recession has slowed growth from its onetime 20% annual pace, revenue will be up as much as 10% in 2010. On average, someone buys a Burt's Bees lip balm, its top seller, every two seconds.

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Shavitz and Quimby have gone separate ways and no longer own the business, which the Oakland, Calif.-based Clorox Co. bought three years ago for about $925 million. But the bees, here and abroad, are still busy producing ingredients for many of the company's more than 150 personal-care products. "We don't use as much honey as you might think," Prohn says. "In fact, we use more almond oil. We use some honey and pollen but mostly beeswax."

The company views itself as eco-friendly--among other things, attempting zero-waste manufacturing. "We might be the only company in North Carolina doing that," Prohn says. It no longer has trash bins parked out back, and to get bonuses, employees must meet ecologically...