As the word "organic" become more and more common place in our society we have to become more educated and vigilant in our examination of these products. Reading the labels are a must but we don't always find out everything we need to know by looking at a label. Ingredients are telling but the processing and manufacturing facilities and the chemicals used there are not disclosed on labels. We need to dig deeper and see exactly who is making these products and what their true mission is. Most big
CPG (consumer package goods) companies are out to generate revenue (sales) while simultaneously cutting costs in order to increase margin. This all adds to the bottom line and thus increases value for investors. The stockholder is the real stakeholder in these companies, not the environment or your health for that matter. Now I am not saying that these companies are bad for your health, its just that some of them have bought up once "pure" organic brands and have applied their best practices that work for their bigger mass marketed brands and some form of hybrid winds up taking its place. Its not all bad, but not all good either.
For example, Burt's Bees was once a small individually owned company with strong values and a mission. Burt
Shavitz, living in the wilderness (how much more natural can you get), started his business from the honey harvested in his own backyard and then sold it in pickle jars from the back of his pickup. Roxanne
Quimby, his eventual business partner really was the inspiration behind the line of natural beeswax products they had come to develop. She eventually bought
Shavits out when their partnership went sour and grew the business to $43 million in revenues by 2002. However, money was a little more important to
Quimby than to
Shavitz as she sold her majority stake in the company and hence all the control over production and ingredients to Unilever in 2006, who then sold it to Clorox in 2007 for a sum total of $925 million. Amazing story right? Going from very humble beginnings in Maine with some honeybees to $925 million. You must be thinking, "What happened to
Shavitz?" Well, he is back in Maine, living among nature and probably pondering the fate of his once pure minded business.
So Clorox bought Burt's Bees. Yes, you got it. A chemical company that makes bleach bought out an all natural personal care product company. Why might you ask? Well, Clorox is competing with the likes of Proctor and Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive. These companies have very developed Household care categories but also make tons of money from personal care products as well. Combine that with the rise of consumer interest in "natural" and "organic" products and you can see why Clorox would be interested in a company like Burt's.
Now the changes can begin. Slowly of course but eventually the Burt's division will have to report to headquarters and show margins that are competitive to all the other Clorox brands. Costs will have to be cut, global suppliers will be used, manufacturing will eventually move to a central location and all the natural allure of Burt's will have become a thing of the past. Except for their marketing, naturally. Burt's will continue to position itself as the small "
hippy" pure and natural personal care company it used to be. People who don't know won't be able to even tell the difference. The colors and the packaging will remain the same for the most part (there may be some new and exciting multi-packs and displays, etc), the story won't change and neither will its "organic origins". But everything else that makes up Burt's will eventually have to
succumb to shareholder pressure for profits. Its only 2010 so maybe Burt's still has some of its roots left in the brand, but not for long....
Burt's is just one example. There are many others to tell. Big Natural Food Store Brands are getting snatched up by even larger corporations so they can add "organic" to their portfolio of brands. Its all the rage!!
Unilever bought Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream of Vermont
Colgate-Palmolive bought Tom's of Maine
Stoneyfield Farms Organic Yogurt sold its majority stake to
Danone (
Dannon)
Horizon Organic Milk was acquired by Dean Foods, Co (Largest Dairy in the US)
Odwalla is now owned by Coca Cola
Naked Juice is owned by Pepsi
Kashi was bought by
KelloggsCascadian Farms is owned by General Mills
Back to Nature was bought by Kraft
This list goes on and you can read the full article here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17306.cfmThe point is that these large corporations don't have the idea of social
responsibility as near and dear to their hearts as the original smaller companies did. These once small start ups have now been swallowed up in the massive corporate culture that breeds in these conglomerates. The passion for purity flame dies out and the strict adherence to the original mission get blurred and then eventually disappears. Pesticides find their way into these products, unfamiliar chemicals and additives do too. The rules aren't that strict anymore and the product eventually morphs into a hybrid of something sort of organic but not really. Can I say, a mass marketed wolf in an organic sheep's clothing? Yeah, something like that.
So be careful and don't fall prey to all the marketing tricks out there. There are still some good organic brands that maintain a high amount of integrity when making their products. Hopefully they won't sell out and leave us with just another brand that dilutes the meaning of the word "organic" or "all natural".
Here is a list of some of the products I use and as far as I know still remain true to their values and mission.
Household CareMrs. Meyers
7
th Generation
Theives from Young Living
Method
Personal CareNaturally Fresh (
deodorant)
Nature's Gate (toothpaste)
Pacifica (soap)
Shi Kai (Shampoos and Conditioners)
Semi Processed FoodsAmy's (pizzas, meals)
Applegate Farms (chicken, beef, turkey)
So Delicious (coconut milk products, yogurt, ice cream)
In my next blog or two I will discuss some more natural products that have come to my attention. I will test them out and give my opinion. I have gotten some recommendations and I will go out there and do my own research to see what else may wind up on my list! Stay Tuned...
Edited to add: Because I would like to remain fair and balanced in my analysis of green products, I am adding this link to a NY Times article that talks about the effect that Burt's Bees is having on the corporate culture at Clorox. This article was written around the time of the purchase so I am sure there were a lot of lofty goals set as to how the business would stay true to its intended mission. I think a follow up analysis is needed to really see how Burt's has changed if at all since its purchase. More recently, Clorox has come out with a green household care line called Green Works. They are claiming it to be free from all harmful toxins but that remains to be seen. A comparison to some of the brands I mention above is necessary to see how true that statement really is. For now, enjoy the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/business/06bees.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
