Organic Industry Structure/Who Owns Which Organic Company

[ladywaterwind]

Chart Link

I know this is for farmers in Canada, but thought the information would be good for us as well :)

[suzy24]

Great info! I'd love to see something like this for Home & Beauty...I know Clorox owns Burt's Bees and Colgate owns Tom's of Maine, but I bet there are others out there!

[Domestic Goddess]

Thought this might be interesting for you all to see

GOOD 009 - Features - Buying Organic

[OHeather]

I was mentally making a list in my head the last couple of weeks. You can get Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen coupons from eatbetteramerica.com, which is a GM co. website. When you email Kashi, it brings you to a Kellogg's site.

While we would like to think that organic companies are small, family run, enviromentally cautious, and such, it may not all be so. It might be, but...

That doesn't mean that I am going to stop buying the products b/c they are produced by a megacompany. I will buy them. But, I will buy them with a coupon, on sale, for the least amount as possible, without feeling bad for the people who make it. Because I know that they are still getting their bottom line met (and more).

Will I try to buy local? Sure. But when that is not an option (in the dead of winter), I can settle for a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th best plan.

Thanks for the info. DG. That site makes it easier to see what I was thinking all along.

[derketchup]

ok that's absolutely scary! I am definitely going to look for local over organic now. I don't think that large processors can be trusted at all.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

I did not know this untill recently that Burt's Bees was owned by Clorox.

Makes me think a little more before about one of my favorite brands of lipgloss....

[derketchup]

Clorox bought Burt Bees, so they weren't always that way.

In fact, I'm wondering how many of these companies were bought? I know Odwalla was bought, and not founded by Coca-Cola.

[Guinness74]

This may be old news, but here's a link to a chart that shows which major processing company owns your favorite organic brand?

GOOD 009 - Features - Buying Organic

Know which company you're supporting when you buy organic!

[Ayanna]

I didn't notice this one linked in here, but this one has not only the parent companies listed, but also when they were bought, also lists ones that are not owned by big non-organic corporations.

Image
and there is also an animated image of this showing kinda how they formed into the final image

[thinkgreen]

Cornucopia Institute » Who Owns Organic

http://www.cornucopia.org/graphics/O...Top25Jul07.pdf

The latest update of major corporate ownership and involvement in the organic food sector is now out. The chart graphically focuses on the organic brands with ties to the top 25 food processors in North America.


Dr. Phil Howard, an Assistant Professor at Michigan State, is responsible for the creation and updating of the organic food business chart. He teaches in the University’s Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies program.

[oldtreehugginhippie]

Wow! great post Alyssa.
You know, when Kashi first came out. I thought it was a independent label. But when you see that Kellogg's owns Kashi and other top brands own other top brand organic labels. it all makes sense to me. they have found a way to corner both markets. Very interesting how they do that.

we the consumer never have an idea unless we look for the fine print on the boxes. but sometimes they don't even put it in the fine print. they like for people to think they aren't affiliated in any way. they want us to think these organic brands stand alone. but they don't and yet they try to hide it.

I guess they figure if we know Kellogg's made Kashi then we wouldn't think of kashi as organic. Go figure. As long as it is certified organic and I like it. I don't care if Kellogg's or Kraft made it. I guess if a small company did pop up and do really good. they would probably just buy them out anyways. It seems to be the way industry is.

[thinkgreen]

Originally Posted by suzy24

I know Clorox owns Burt's Bees

With the prices they charge, there is absolutely no reason why Mega Co. shouldn't make coupons available then!

[ecoMomics]

It is somewhat disheartening to hear that these companies have been bought out, and it was a bit of a shock when DH and I were watching Food, Inc. That said as a small business owner, not a food producer though, I can understand that allowing yourself to be purchased by a larger company might allow you to do more good and affect more change than if you stay small. The important thing really is not whether they are bought out by a parent company, but whether or not the smaller company is allowed to maintain control of their company and its policies.