Who's Really Behind Organic Food Brands Like Amy's and Odwalla? [View All]

[marmar]

via AlterNet:



Who's Really Behind Organic Food Brands Like Amy's and Odwalla?

By Vanessa Barrington, EcoSalon. Posted November 2, 2009.

Over the past decade many small organic food brands have been snapped up by giant corporations. Clearly, this can be bad for standards and quality.




I’ll never forget the time I first tried an Odwalla tangerine juice. It was back when tangerine juice was a seasonal offering, during a short window of time in January and February.

I’d just finished a long uphill walk on an unusually warm winter day in San Francisco, and that bottle of juice was manna for my thirsty body.

Then Coke bought Odwalla and seasonality went out the window, along with the pure natural taste of unadulterated juice. Now, if you could find a plain Odwalla tangerine juice not all dolled up with some “functional” additive, you’d be hard-pressed to distinguish it from generic orange juice.

It’s no secret that there’s been consolidation in the organic and natural foods industry over the past decade or so. And clearly, consolidation can be bad for standards and quality.

These Who Owns Organics? charts have been passed around The Internet for years. Most people are shocked the first time they see them (Hershey’s owns Dagoba?).

Organics have always been big money, even in a recession. This attracts well-capitalized companies who want to invest, and who can blame them? .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/143647/who%27s_really_behind_organic_food_brands_like_amy%27s_and_odwalla