Seth Goldman is co-founder, President and TeaEO of Honest Tea, the company he co-founded in 1998 with
Professor Barry Nalebuff of the Yale School of Management. Over the past ten years the company has thrived with a 66% annual compound growth rate, as consumers have shifted toward healthier and more sustainable diets. In 2008
The Coca-Cola Company purchased a minority interest in Honest Tea, fueling further growth as Honest becomes the first organic and Fair Trade brand to move into the world's largest beverage distribution system.
An entrepreneur at heart, Seth started with lemonade stands and newspaper routes, created a non-profit urban service corps, and nearly pursued a prize-winning biotechnology idea before he started Honest Tea in his kitchen in 1998. Since then, the company has initiated community-based partnerships with suppliers in India, South Africa and Argentina and has created marketing partnerships with City Year, Terracycle, the GM Saturn VUE Greenline Hybrid and Jamis Bikes. In addition to being named one of
The Better World Shopping Guide's "ten best companies on the planet based on their overall social and environmental record," Honest Tea was also listed as one of PlanetGreen.com's "Top 7 Green Corporations of 2010." In 2010,
The Huffington Post ranked Honest Tea as one of the leading "8 Revolutionary Socially Responsible Companies."
In 2008 Seth co-founded
Bethesda Green, a local sustainability initiative in Honest Tea's hometown. In its first year, the initiative helped area restaurants convert their grease waste into biodiesel, and has diverted over 200,000 lbs of electronic waste from landfills. Bethesda Green hosts Maryland’s first green business incubator, with fourteen start-ups currently in residence. Seth has served on the boards of Bethesda Green, Happy Baby, The Calvert Foundation, the American Beverage Association, Repair the World, Environmental Leadership Program, Pennsylvania Certified Organic, and sits on the Advisory Board of Net Impact. In 2011, Seth was appointed by Governor Martin O'Malley to the Maryland Economic Development Commission.
Before launching Honest Tea, Seth worked at
Calvert Group, managing the marketing and sales efforts for the nation's largest family of socially responsible mutual funds. His previous work includes directing an AmeriCorps demonstration project in Baltimore and serving as Senator Lloyd Bentsen's Deputy Press Secretary. He has also worked in Beijing and Moscow. He is a graduate of Harvard College (1987) and the Yale School of Management (1995), and holds an honorary Doctorate of Laws from American University. In 2009, Seth was the recipient of Net Impact’s Member Achievement Award. He is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.
Seth, his wife and three boys live near Honest Tea's Bethesda, MD headquarters in an eco-friendly house.