Key Update: via the good folks at at Silk Soy:
[Dear Waylon]
Just wanted to chime in quickly regarding your [article]. We appreciate your level of objectivity, and the fact that you allowed us to answer your questions in the video. However some of the other articles you link to are a bit misleading, and the headline is inaccurate.
Silk actually hasn't been kicked out of Whole Foods. They have limited our distribution in a few regions, but there are still a large number of stores carrying our Organic and Natural products.
[editor's note: this represents a hugely important point--one that contradicts all the other articles I'd read, some of which are linked/referenced below.]
And while we are now offering the Natural soymilk options, we're still the leading organic provider out there. Just to add a little context, we sell three times as much organic soymilk than all of our competitors combined. Which means we support more organic soybean acres than anyone else in the U.S. as well.
[editor's note: For now: getting even partially booted out of Whole Foods will change that balance significantly--an article I read estimated that a Silk Soy rival, Earth Balance, will nearly double in revenues overnight.]
[editor's note: love it. So no Silk beans from South America, China?]
After a few of the stories you link to hit, we offered up some additional facts via our blog, which you can see here and here...
...We appreciate your willingness to hear and feature our side of the story, journalists like you keep companies like us honest. Hopefully we can continue to work together and keep the dialogue going.
Every bean we source, organic and natural, is done so domestically. We do not source any beans (or other ingredients) from China. Soon, you'll be able to see where those beans come from down to the county, as we're poised to launch a new online tracking tool to add more transparency to our sourcing operations.
JB
WhiteWave Foods
~
~
Last year, Silk Soy--while continuing to offer a somewhat higher-priced organic option--pushed the majority of its soy milk to "natural" (the beans still weren't genetically modified [GMO], which is great).
It was a blow to the green movement--and one that changed Silk, overnight, from the world's largest organic brand into, well, not.
Recently, I interviewed my friends at the Dean Foods-owned White Wave/Silk Soy about their decision to go "natural." To their credit, they were open about the up- and downsides.
See the second half of the below video of elephant editor Waylon Lewis' adventure at the recent Natural Products Expo West in LA, here:
For more, click here or here or here or here. Or here.
Excerpt via Planet Green:
The Cornucopia Institute claimed victory against the largest soymilk producer in the country this week, after a landmark deal with Whole Foods:
"Saying that its relationship with Dean Foods had 'chilled,' Whole Foods indicated it was bringing in a new branded organic soymilk partner, Earth Balance...'Dean Foods has been roundly criticized for taking the organic out of Silk, and now the marketplace and consumers are passing their judgment,' said Mark Kastel, Cornucopia's senior farm policy analyst. 'They took what once was a pioneering 100% organic brand, before they acquired the company in 2003, and cheapened the product at the expense of American farmers and consumers. Now they are paying a price for their naked profiteering,' Kastel added."
In addition, Whole Foods wants Earth Balance's soymilk products to be made strictly from soybeans grown in the U.S. That stipulation likely comes as a direct response to Silk's initial shift--even before it gave up on organic--away from domestic soybeans when it started sourcing (organic, at first) from China. ...for the rest, click here.
Move comes in wake of WhiteWave shifting Silk away from certified organic soybeansFourteen years ago, a burgeoning Boulder company -- WhiteWave Inc. -- was responsible for launching Silk soymilk, a brand that is now the category leader.
So when Whole Foods Market wanted to boost its organic soymilk options a year after Dean Foods' WhiteWave Foods shifted most of its Silk products away from certified organic soybeans, the Austin, Texas, grocer turned to a burgeoning Boulder County firm -- one stocked with former White Wave employees.
Whole Foods this week announced an agreement with Longmont-based Earth Balance under which the natural foods division of New Jersey-based spreads company Smart Balance Inc. would launch its line of organic soymilks at Whole Foods stores nationwide...for the rest, click here.
I'll leave you with a remarkable, though tangential factoid:
"The NY Times reports that Silk spent $29.1 million on advertising in major media last year."
To stay in touch, click Waylon or elephant and like it up.
Follow Waylon Lewis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/elephantjournal
Jennifer Grayson: Eco Etiquette: Is Organic Milk A Hoax?
Too expensive, stores too big, It seemed that there was little I really wanted to buy.
Thanks for such a great article! I love the fact you take the information and allow it to speak through the companies! keep it up!
Furthermore, Soy Milk in any form is bad. Soy contains estrogenic properties. The best source for Soy is fermented.
HuffPos Dr. Mercola advocates this: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/09/18/soy-can-damage-your-health.aspx
I could swear that Silk regular soy milk used to say "organic." Perhaps I was just fooled by that "natural" label. In any case, at some point I noticed that it was not or was no longer labeled organic an I stopped buying it. If I didn't care about pesticides and other chemicals, I wouldn't be buying soy milk in the first place. Then when Silk came out with the "organic" labeled product, it was priced (on average) 25% higher, at about $4 to $4.25 in NYC. Why pay for that when I can get other organic brands for about $3?
So, if WF dumps Silk, that's okay with me.
Where does one get fresh soybeans? Curious.
you can also make soymilk without a device. recipe is in an old hippie cookbook called "The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook".
Awhile back Craig Shiesley, president of our Silk brand, addressed the issue of our changing portfolio on our blog. You can read what he had to say here: http://bit.ly/dn8cNF, as well as a follow up to that post here: http://bit.ly/9msEwm
And yes you’re correct, all our beans come from here in the U.S.; nothing from South America or China. Additionally, all of our soybeans are 100 percent GMO-free. We follow a comprehensive set of testing protocols to detect GMOs, pesticide residue and other contaminants.
In fact, earlier this month, Silk enrolled in the Non-GMO Project’s Product Verification Program, which will provide independent verification of the strict GMO testing we already have in place.
As far as our advertising budget goes - we’re doing as much as we can to help educate people about the benefits of soy, and continue to build the category (of course we’ve also got some great fans out there spreading the word as well - http://bit.ly/aHk2Xj). And it's not just TV commercials and print ads, we work with scientists, nutritionists and other professional experts to help educate and push out all the good things about soy.
Thanks again for the opportunity to tell our side of the story.
JB
And that you'll spend a fraction of that 29 million on supporting green, indie media that has helped spread awareness with a nation of concerned, active customers re the benefits of a responsible, moderate diet that includes (ideally organic, always non-gmo) soy.
Sounds like they're gonna scramble to do damage control for a bit here, but this is still a huge deal.
This is what B Corp is trying to fix—to engender a culture where businesses, legally, are beholden not only to profit, but to environmental responsibility and We the People. http://www.elephantjournal.com/2008/11/triple-bottom-line-business-networks-svn-balle-b-corporation/
China is the largest export market for American grown soy beans in the world.
WE sell to THEM.
We grow soybeans. Whatever kind, it isn't important.
They buy soybeans. The kind we grow. Very important.
So, what's the problem?
That pollen from GMO varieties do contaminate non-GMO ones has been shown in Mexico where the transgenes have appeared in wild maize varieties (http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126964.200-transgenes-found-in-wild-corn.html).
German manufacturers of organic soy products have stated last year that they cannot ensure that their products don't contain GMOs and tests have shown that in the majority of cases, organic soy products do contain traces of the GMO varieties.
So if Silk Soy products are indeed 100% organic, it would be great but also quite unique.
Soy-milk can never be 100% organic due to the regulations. The 100% category was invented by USDA, it was never part of any worldwide organic standard. An organic apple cannot be 100% organic, if if vegan organic wax is used; although apple sauce can be 100% organic even though processors can use tap water, with fluoride, chlorine and other drinking water chemicals. 100% is a messed up label and hopefully will be dropped.
As you know scientist in the Antarctica have tested marine and animal life and found pesticides and all other man-made contaminates. The organic community understands it;s a dirty world; which is why we've never claimed organic food is free of any contaminates; pesticides, GMO's etc. However, USDA testing of organic products consistently showed less and often much less, contaminates than non-organic products.
Most people aren't aware that many food processing organisms, such as GMO yeast, are used in everyday food products. Organics is the only food system designed to avoid contamination from GMO's at all levels.
http://theagricos.com/plant-breeding/pollination/self-pollination/