The concept of corporate food ownership is rapidly becoming an important part of the conversation. It started a long time ago but has increasingly made headlines starting back in 2013 with California's Prop 37, a proposal to label GMOs on foods. Major food manufacturers paid tens of millions of dollars to fight this initiative and ultimately outspent those who wanted to know by a factor of nearly ten to one. Jeffrey Smith, the founding executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, and a very active consumer advocate and public speaker, stated that although Prop 37 did not pass it achieved two very important things. It brought the issue of genetically modified foods and GMO contamination to a great level of public awareness. It also brought to light the web of who owns your food. The Cornucopia Institute has a great graphic that shows who really owns your favorite organic brands.
Unfortunately many people think that if a food is an organic label that means it's fine. But the ownership of that product has a lot to do with it as conventional food corporations continually try to change, modify, or defeat labeling that would provide you with information you want to know. Because consumers are demanding cleaner labels. They're shying away from conventional brands. And profits are down for those conventional manufacturers.[1] In order to bolster their bottom line many of these corporations are now seeking out and buying up majority share or total ownership in organic food companies. And once they own them they change them.[2]
Contrary to what you may believe, food manufacturers are not really in business to make food. They're in business to make money. With conventional food products that often means finding ways to save money, cheaper ingredients, brand building, and misleading marketing.[3]
The latest food company buy is the acquisition of Annie's Homegrown by General Mills. Although Annie's and General Mills have both put out a huge marketing spin claiming that things will remain exactly the same, that the company is still committed to providing the organic goodness and quality that their consumers are used to. The public however is very skeptical and grumbling loudly. They don't believe the hype and they are, at least for now, watching closely. This may have to do with the fact that General Mills spent over $1.1 million on defeating Prop 37 and has continued to pour dollars into the anti-GMO labeling campaign every time the issue comes up. They also very publicly announced that they would not be offering any more GMO-free products after discovering that GMO-free cheerios didn't appreciably raise market share. (Perhaps some of this has to do with the fact that it's an exploded grain cereal which is nutritionally deficient and as consumers learn more they're seeking out healthier choices? But I digress…)
If nothing else the media attention and consumer outcry is giving clear notice to conventional food manufacturers that consumers are no longer blindly following. They're learning to think for themselves, to learn what's really in their food, and to make value-based purchasing decisions that can have significant impact.
[1] General Mills is now seeking to reduce their costs by up to $140 million as they see profits and market share shrinking. Cereal sales alone are down by 9% and overall General Mills business has dropped considerably. No word about how the Annie's acquisition was inspired by this. It will be very interesting to see where these changes come from and how it impacts their brands. Once concern is that they'll wait until the furor over the Annie's acquisition dies down and then make modest changes. Unfortunately as consumers we tend to forget who owns that brand. And staying on top of the web of ownership isn't easy. [2] Example of change: Stonyfield Farm used to be a separate company making yogurt. Starting in 2001 Group Danone began to buy up shares in Stoneyfield; they now own 85% of the company. Recently there have been a number of what I consider to be unhealthy (and unwanted) changes to the product. Starting with the fact that they no longer have a cream on the top product. Their marketing claims this is because “We've stirred in the cream…to make our creamiest, smoothest, whole milk yogurt ever.” Not really, what they did was homogenize the product. Easier and less expensive. Certainly not what the consumers are looking for. They've also been adding pectin to their yogurt. I clearly recall that it wasn't in there before. Pectin is a thickening agent. To me that indicates the possibility that they are no longer allowing a full setting process on the yogurt and are force thickening it with pectin. This takes less time which probably increases profits but also decreases the health benefits as the live active bacteria may not fully culture. [3] Misleading marketing example: Twix Swirls by General Mills. It claims to be a good source of calcium and vitamin D plus touts the whole grains in the box. However the ingredients list reveals a totally different story: whole grain corn, sugar, corn meal, corn syrup, canola and/or rice bran oil, salt, trisodium phosphate, red 40, yellow 6, blue 1, and other color added, natural and artificial flavor, citric acid, malic acid, bht added to preserve freshness. Another way to read this list is: GMO, sugar, GMO, GMO, possible GMO, salt, trisodium phosphate*, artificial colors**, possible MSG, artificial flavors, GMO, allergen/highly inflammatory agent.
*Trisodium phosphate, TSP, while deemed GRAS has been shown to cause irritations to the lining of the gut and is linked to both osteoporosis and kidney calcification.
** petroleum based artificial colors are strongly linked to attention related issues in those with AD/HD
Well, I hope the Annie’s people made out well, because they’re about to watch their baby go down the drain. With so many other choices now, why would I ever buy something from General Mills rather than support smaller companies who stand by their ingredients and created their foods specifically because they care about what they are putting out in the world?
I just wonder how any of the really good and wholesome companies can survive the big bad guys!
It’s sad to think that if you can’t beat them, buy them and change the product!
Thanks for keeping us informed
Trudy
Mira, thank you for your very thought provoking posts. This really gives me pause to ponder about the business of food.
Great post Mira! This is such important information for everyone. Thank you for posting!