Outdoor gear retailer Patagonia Inc. has long had a reputation as one of the most environmentally and socially conscious companies in the world.

That was never more clear than in September 2020, when founder Yvon Chouinard gave the $3 billion company away to two nonprofits and committed $100 million of its annual profits towards fighting climate change.

The company is transferring 100% of its voting stock to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, created to uphold the activist values of the company. All of its nonvoting stock will go to the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit Chouinard described as “dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature.”

Chouinard founded the Ventura, Calif.-based company in 1973. The company has stores in more than 10 countries, as well as factories in more than 15 countries. It operates one store in Austin at 316 Congress Ave.

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Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert is in charge of carrying out the mission of transitioning the company to its new ownership. During a South by Southwest keynote event moderated by journalist Katie Couric, he talked about the company's future, which includes a push into the food industry.

Here are some key takeaways from the discussion:

• The conversation began with Couric asking Gellert about his background and how he landed at Patagonia in 2014, first spending six years as the company's general manager of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He was named CEO in 2020.

His response: "I always feel like I'm the last person anyone should ask about career advice. I grew up skateboarding. I grew up around people that built their lives around surfing. Some still bartend around it.  How do I build a career when I'm someone who doesn't know what I want to do, but I want to feel passionate about it." He first landed at outdoor gear maker Black Diamond Equipment before joining Patagonia, where he was drawn by the company's commitment to social and environmental issues.

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• Couric next asked about Patagonia's transition to new nonprofit ownership. His response was that the company is an "unapologetically for-profit business." Regarding the company's commitment to fighting climate change, Gellert said, "It's a threat to everything we value including the natural world. It's going to take every lever we have to solve it. That's government, it's individuals and it's businesses no longer hiding. I am proud to be part of a for-profit business operating in a segment that needs to change."

He added, "We have created the world's problems and they're not solvable without businesses taking responsibility."

• Couric next asked about fast-fashion, in which consumers buy clothing, wear it for a season and discard it. Gellert responded that apparel is one of the most polluting segments in economies. "There is not enough need in the developing world for all of this stuff. Some of the things we're really focused on are first think before you buy, see yourself as an owner not a consumer."

Patagonia has long focused on doing product repair and stressing quality products that are sustainable, he said. Whether you bought a jacket two weeks ago or 20 years ago and the zipper breaks, the company will fix it at no charge, he said.

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• Couric's last round of questions focused on Patagonia's future, which includes expanding its role in the food sector. The company recently made news for purchasing Moonshot, a San Francisco-based startup that makes crackers and snacks with a low-carbon footprint. It was Patagonia's first acquisition in more than two decades.

Gellert said that the agriculture sector is "one of the most broken" when it comes to the environment.

He said Patagonia wants to model new environmental stewardship. "I would love to see that happen. I think we could drive the biggest change in that space."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert tells Katie Couric about company's goals