\n<\/p>\n
Beverages and syrups aren\u2019t the only thing that sets Torani apart. The 101-year-old company has also earned a reputation for holding onto employees. <\/p>\n
The San Leandro, California-based employer has never laid off workers in its entire history. <\/p>\n
Now, as generative AI begins to transform the entry-level jobs that have long been a starting point for employees in corporate America, Torani CEO Melanie Dulbecco<\/a> is confronting a challenge familiar to leaders across industries: How do you embrace technology designed to automate work without displacing the people who do it?<\/p>\n \u201cIt is going to dramatically change things, and we\u2019re all going to live through this together, but our approach is going to be the same as it has been,\u201d Dulbecco told Fortune<\/em><\/a> in a recent interview. \u201cHow do we create great jobs through this for everyone?\u201d<\/p>\n For Dulbecco, the question carries particular weight. She has led the syrup company for 35 years and wants to steer it into the AI era while preserving Torani\u2019s longtime record of avoiding layoffs.<\/p>\n Dulbecco joined Torani in 1991 after a friend introduced her to the family owners. At the time, she said, Torani had nine employees and annual revenue of $700,000.<\/p>\n The business traces its roots to 1925, when its founders began selling handcrafted drink syrups in San Francisco. After Prohibition ended in 1933, the company shifted into liqueurs. Its now-signature coffee syrups came much later, launching in 1982.<\/p>\n Since then, Torani has expanded from five syrup flavors to more than 150, used in coffee, cocktails, sodas and other drinks. Dulbecco also says the company helped create the flavored-latte category, pointing to its early vanilla syrup as the product that \u201cinvented the flavored latte.\u201d<\/p>\n Dulbecco added that this year, Torani is on track to bring in more than $800 million with 500 employees, registering 20% annual revenue growth across 35 years.\u00a0She said that most companies focus first on financials and then consider people as tools. <\/p>\n \u201cWe look at it the other way around, and it works really well for us,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n Dulbecco says Torani starts with its people, not simply the potential savings, when weighing investments in new technology like AI. Rather than asking how many roles technology could eliminate, she focuses on how employees can take on work that contributes to the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are those 500 people, or 200 people, or 20 people doing to add more value?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n That approach, she argues, has helped build trust as AI enters the workplace. Since Torani has not laid people off when adopting new tools, employees are more willing to learn and experiment with them.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we find is our team is more likely to embrace new technologies also because there\u2019s confidence and an openness to learning new things because they know we\u2019ve got their backs and they\u2019ve got ours,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n In a difficult hiring market, where employers say it is hard to hire, Torani has \u201cnot had the same challenge,\u201d Dulbecco noted. \u201cWe appreciate people in every role,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Beverages and syrups aren\u2019t the only thing that sets Torani apart. The 101-year-old company has also earned a reputation for holding onto employees. <\/p>\n The San Leandro, California-based employer has never laid off workers in its entire history. <\/p>\n Now, as generative AI begins to transform the entry-level jobs that have long been a starting point for employees in corporate America, Torani CEO Melanie Dulbecco<\/a> is confronting a challenge familiar to leaders across industries: How do you embrace technology designed to automate work without displacing the people who do it?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nHow Torani came to be<\/h2>\n
How Torani approaches AI<\/h2>\n
Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
\n