Clif Bar’s Base Camp On-Site Childcare

Clif Bar & Company, a mid-size natural foods company, opened "Base Camp", a fully licensed on-site childcare center in its Emeryville, California, headquarters.

Clif Bar’s leadership recognized early that the high cost of childcare in the Bay Area, coupled with the lack of on-site options, could drive working parents, especially mothers, out of the workforce. In 2010, only 7% of U.S. companies offered on-site daycare. Clif Bar, valuing work-life integration, had a core goal to “bring your whole self to work,” but new parents were stressed due to childcare struggles. The company needed to reduce these attrition risks and reinforce its family-friendly culture amid industry competition for talent.

Clif Bar partnered with KinderCare to open Base Camp in Emeryville, California, located conveniently in the same building as its office. The center provides 65 childcare slots for infant children through pre-K. Employees using the center pay 15–20% lower tuition than comparable local centers. Base Camp also allows enrollment for children of other neighboring companies, such as Leapfrog, ensuring full utilization and community goodwill. Clif Bar’s culture encourages parents to visit on breaks—it's not unusual to see a Clif employee spend lunch playing with their baby at Base Camp, fostering work-life harmony.

• Outsource operations to experts: Clif Bar tapped a childcare expert, KinderCare, to handle licensing, staffing, and curriculum.
• Create a welcoming policy: Encourage parents to integrate childcare visits into their day. Clif’s culture of parents visiting Base Camp reinforces trust and satisfaction. Set guidelines to allow parent check-ins without disrupting work.
• Consider allowing enrollment for non-employees as well: Base Camp allowed enrollment for children of other neighboring companies, such as Leapfrog. This not only leads to higher utilization rate of the center, but also potentially higher revenue for the business as well.