Do Corporate Giants Own Your Favorite Organic Label?

DivineCaroline:

As the market for organic and natural foods has dramatically increased over the past few decades, and large megastores like Walmart and Costco have gotten into the organic business[...] A useful chart put together by Phil Howard, an assistant professor at Michigan State University, helped me to decipher who owns whom.

Read the whole story: DivineCaroline

Comments

[tinrobot]

11:39 PM on 09/12/2009

There is a positive side to this - that organic food is becoming mainstream. 10-20 years ago, it was difficult to find organic food. Now you can find organic products fairly easily. As the market grows, it's natural for companies to grow to meet increased demand and also for large companies to buy into the market.

But the bottom line is there's more organic food than ever. Isn't that what people wanted? Isn't that a good thing? Or do they really want to feel "special" because they eat boutique food that's somehow better than what the common people eat?

You really have to take this on a case by case basis. If a big company makes your favorite food taste like crap, or drops the organic label, then stop buying it. But if it's labeled as organic, then it's legally required to be organic - grown without pesticides, chemicals, hormones, etc. The size of the company growing the food is not particularly the issue.

[organicthemepark]

07:21 PM on 09/12/2009

This is a real eye-opener ! Thanks for sharing. It's unfortunate so many smaller organic labels have sold out to FOOD, INC !!

[condor101]

11:58 AM on 09/12/2009

I agree with the post below from "themainpoint". Large conglomerates are pulling a 'bait and switch' in the organic sphere. These huge companies with deep pockets feel threatened by an upcoming brand that has a strong following with the core organic shopper. Companies like Kellog, Hain Celestial, Unilever, Hershey's, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Clorox, Procter and Gamble, etc want to monopolize their industries.

They buyout good brands like Kashi, Naked Juice, Bear Naked, Burt's Bees,Tom's of Maine, etc that appeal already to the organic consumer. They keep the packaging the same as before. By all appearances, the consumer is fooled to believe that product adheres to their organic and green values. The most notorious fact is that when you search for the company headquarters name on the packaging, there is no mention of the controlling conglomerate.

(continued below)

[condor101]

11:58 AM on 09/12/2009

Inevitably, the parent companies will steathly change the ingredients and quality of these 'organic' products. It's already happened to a number of products. Personally, I feel deceived when I buy an Organic product and discover that it is owned by a company that sells polluted foods through their other mainstay brands. I'm not only a consumer of organic products but also of the ideals and actions of the companies behind those very products. I don't like profits from my purchases to be used for strengthening the ability of companies to mal-aligned, contaminated foods.

Thank god there are still independent companies like Dr. Bronner's, Clif Bars, Eden Foods that produce true organics and are independently owned by their founders. For a clear graphic idea of the ownership by Big Conglomerates in this industry, check out the link below.
Stay informed and shop at local Farmers Markets as much as possible.

http://www.localharvest.org

http://www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca/rcbtoa/services/corporate-ownership.html

[MaxPowerXP]

04:24 PM on 09/11/2009

"Organic" food is the easiest way to seperate fools from their money

[seakat]

09:32 PM on 09/11/2009

I hope you and your chemicals will be very happy together. They don't charge extra for them either.

[MaxPowerXP]

11:36 AM on 09/12/2009

oh no not CHEMICALS!!!! what's next, ATOMS?!?!?!?!

[John Clotfelter]

10:04 AM on 09/11/2009

While I am not the biggest fan of Hain-Celestial (because of their sheer size in the marketplace) the author's assertion that they are "Controlled by Heinz" is outright false. Heinz had a 16% share in Hain when they acquired Heinz's Earth's Best line, but this was sold in 2005.

[themainpoint]

09:35 AM on 09/11/2009

The best way to know your food is truly organic is to grow it yourself in your yard or a porch or buy from local farms where you can see what's going on with your food.

Cascadian Farms had great jams way back when. I bought them all the time for years. Then one day, the jam was no longer filled with berries and instead was like a jar of "organic" sugar water. Sure enough, I learned that they had been purchased by a huge company.

Same with White Wave Silk soy milk. I used to buy their red carton of Organic soy milk and then one day discovered the new company had put a Non-Organic (probably gm) soy milk in the exact same red carton. They merely switched the small print that had said "organic" to "natural" and all the loyal silk customers who automatically reached for the red carton were taken. I would never have thought to even look for this as it seems so fraudulent and the classic bait and switch. I had been drinking it for months before I noticed and I wonder how many customers they lost this way.

It takes lots of research and constant vigilance to keep up with the tactics of the mass producers of "organic" foods.

[HeWhoReads]

03:42 PM on 09/11/2009

Good post. I fully agree.

[Vxx]

05:56 PM on 09/10/2009

Costco is ranked very well in employee and customer treatment. They also score well in community involvement (they always contributed to local school fundraising). No problems with them and they often buy *locally* to each store location.

Walmart?? You have to be joking, they're anti-everything except filling their executive pockets.

The best consumer tactic though: use your local farmer's market. Buy your produce from local producers. Don't buy crap out of season from other planets.

[V4Vigilance]

05:02 PM on 09/10/2009

I wouldn't mind Costco owning the company making my organic products as they're consistently ranked one of the best corporate citizens in the market. Walmart? Ugh, that's whole 'nother story. I don't shop there and definitely won't buy from subsidiaries of theirs.