From skeptic to advocate: How Foster Farms achieved unprecedented health outcomes through partnership

Toby Stime, Director of Benefits at Foster Farms, was frustrated with his company's wellbeing programs. After cycling through three vendors in as many years, each partnership proved merely transactional, showing initial promise before engagement inevitably plateaued. With over 9,500 employees speaking eight different languages across the Western United States, the administrative burden was immense, yet participation remained stagnant. The entire wellbeing program was on the verge of being cut.

The challenge

Breaking the cycle of vendor disappointment

Foster Farms faced a perfect storm of wellbeing challenges. Their diverse, multilingual workforce, ranging from 18-year-olds to employees in their seventies, wasn't connecting with generic programming. Language barriers created friction. Previous vendors delivered platforms but not results. Most critically, diabetes and glucose risk had emerged as the company's number one health concern, yet traditional approaches weren't moving the needle. 

Coming from a workers' compensation background, Toby brought a cost-scrutiny lens to Foster Farm’s benefits landscape. To justify the expenditure, he needed to see measurable ROI, not just feel-good metrics. After years of paying fees for disengaged participants with minimal outcomes, cutting the program entirely seemed like the fiscally responsible choice. 

Then, leadership changed the conversation.

The turning point

When culture meets partnership

When Navigate entered the picture, Foster Farms could feel an immediate shift in how their wellbeing strategy supported employees across the organization. Beyond the platform features, there was cultural alignment. Navigate's team listened first, asked how they could help reach Foster Farms' diverse population, and demonstrated genuine understanding of the manufacturing environment.

"Being free at this level to put people first made such a huge difference for how I view our benefits program," Toby explains. "And that really, I think, was the turning point as we were looking at, what are we going to do with this plan?" 

The partnership began with addressing what others had overlooked: language accessibility, cultural relevance, and communication strategies that truly reached the workforce.  

Additionally, Navigate maintained a familiar user experience while upgrading backend capabilities, honoring employee habits while delivering personalization at scale. This balance allowed the organization to modernize its wellbeing strategy without disrupting the routines employees had already grown comfortable with.

The challenge

Personalization meets proven methodology

Navigate implemented a comprehensive approach built on three pillars: 

Total Health Platform Integration: Claims data integration enabled truly personalized interventions, targeting the right people with the right programs at the right time, not just broadcasting generic content. 

Wellbeing Results Review: A group of employees participated in intensive coaching focused on biometric improvements, receiving individualized support to address their specific health risks. 

Condition Management Coaching: A collection of employees with chronic conditions received specialized coaching, with particular focus on diabetes and glucose management, Foster Farms' primary health concern. 

The strategy moved beyond one-size-fits-all programming to align with the needs of their workforce, in languages they spoke, with interventions tailored to their individual health profiles.

The results

Transformation beyond expectations

The outcomes silenced any remaining skeptics. 

But the transformation didn't stop there. Year two delivered an additional 4-5% improvements across LDL, triglycerides, blood pressure, and A1C—proving sustainable progress, not just a temporary spike. 

Health coaching participation in year one surpassed the previous four years combined.

These weren't just numbers on a spreadsheet. They represented real people, employees in their twenties and seventies, speaking different languages, working different shifts, all finding value in a program that finally met their needs.

The partnership continues

From transaction to transformation

Five years later, the relationship between Foster Farms and Navigate continues to evolve. What began with a skeptical benefits director ready to cut costs has become a strategic partnership driving measurable health transformation. 

Manufacturing has become Navigate's fastest-growing vertical, with Foster Farms serving as a proof point that personalized, culturally sensitive wellbeing programs can deliver exceptional outcomes even in complex, diverse populations. 

For Toby, the journey from skeptic to advocate reflects a broader lesson about the power of alignment. When vendors become partners, when programs become personalized, and when organizations genuinely put people first, wellbeing transforms from an expensive line item into a strategic investment that pays dividends in human health and organizational performance. 

What was once viewed as an optional investment became a foundational part of a healthier workforce, supported by clear data. 

Want to learn more? Listen to our podcast with Foster Farms.

About Foster Farms: A leading poultry producer in the Western United States, Foster Farms employs approximately 9,500 people across diverse roles, representing seven to eight primary languages and age ranges from 18 to 70+. 

About Navigate Wellbeing: Navigate partners with employers to deliver personalized wellbeing solutions that drive measurable health outcomes through Total Health platform integration, results-focused coaching, and condition management programs.