Tuesday, February 22, 2011

WHO OWNS THOSE "ORGANIC" FOODS WE BUY?


Ever eat any of these 'organic' or 'natural' products?...They are all owned by 'anonymous conglomerates' like ConAgra, Nestle and some more well known names like Coca-Cola and Heinz Inc...Most of the 'vegan' or 'vegetarian' products like soy burgers and soy milk are made from GMO soybeans which are mass produced. 'Hebrew National' hot dogs are now made by ConAgra Corporation, etc., etc....more and more consolidation
Buy locally.

  
Mergers in the Food Industry:
Who owns organic/natural foods companies?

Updated June 16, 2004
Also see list of GMO and non-GMO food products

    * Celestial Seasonings®, Hain Pure Foods®, Westbrae Natural®, Westsoy®, Arrowhead Mills®, Health Valley®, Imagine Foods (Rice Dream), Breadshop's®, Casbah®, Garden of Eatin'®, Terra Chips®, Yves Veggie Cuisine®, DeBoles®, Earth's Best®, Nile Spice® and (as of June 2004) Jason Natural Cosmetics are all owned by the Hain Celestial Food Group.
    * H.J. Heinz Co. owns about 20% of Hain.
    * Cascadian Farms (organic fruits, vegetables and entrees) and Muir Glen are owned by Small Planet Foods, which is owned by General Mills. General Mills is being boycotted for supporting circuses.
    * Odwalla Juice and Fresh Samantha (juice) are owned by Coca-Cola.
         1. Coca-Cola prohibits unionizing: WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire -- Edgar Paez, of the Colombian trade union Sinaltrainal, was joined on Monday by Teamster representatives, the AFL- CIO, members of the clergy, civil rights activists and political leaders as he described the brutal torture, kidnapping and murders of union workers in his country -- particularly those working at Coca-Cola bottling facilities. The group assembled for a peace vigil in front of the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, GA. "My brothers and sisters in Colombia have suffered unspeakable horrors because they belong to a trade union," Paez said. "We stand united with American workers to demand that Coca-Cola stop the violence."
         2. Coca-Cola paid $192.5 million to settle a U.S. racial discrimination lawsuit in 2000.

    * Boca Burgers is are owned by Kraft Foods, which is owned by Philip Morris. Most Boca products use GMO soy. Some products are "made with organic soy" but because they are not 100% organic they may still contain GMOs.
    * Morningstar Farms is owned by Kellogg. Morningstar products use GMOs.
    * Natural Touch is now Morningstar Farms' Natural Touch products are "made with organic soy" and other organic ingredients but because they are not 100% organic they may still contain GMOs.
    * Kashi is owned by Kellogg.
    * White Wave was purchased by dairy giant Dean Foods in May 2002. White Wave makes organic soy products like Silk soy drink, tofu and tempeh.
    * Horizon Organic (dairy) is also now owned by Dean Foods.
    * Arrowhead Water and Poland Spring Water are owned by Nestle, which is being boycotted because its "breast milk substitute" causes the deaths of millions of babies.
    * Seeds of Change is owned by M&M Mars Candy.
    * Lightlife (soy foods) is owned by ConAgra, one of the largest if not the largest food company in the United States.
    * Knudsen, After the Fall and Santa Cruz Organics are owned by Smuckers.

Buyer    Purchase    Price    Date
Coca Cola    Odwalla and Fresh Samantha (fresh juices, energy bars)    $181 million    October 2001
ConAgra    owns Lightlife, manufacturer of vegan meat substitutes like Gimme Lean, Smart Dogs, Foney Boloney, Smart Deli Slices, and more.         
ConAgra    International Home Foods    $1.6 billion    June 23, 2000
Danone    McKesson Water Products    $1.1 billion    January 2000
Dean Foods (nation's largest dairy)    White Wave (manufacturer of soy products including Silk) (also, part owner of Horizon Organic Dairies)    approx $189 million
story    May 2002
General Mills    Small Planet Foods (parent of Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen)    Not available    December 1999
Hain Food Group    Celestial Seasonings, Terra Chips, Garden of Eatin', Yves Veggie Cuisine, Arrowhead Mills, more brands (also has alliance with Heinz)    $326 million (Celestial Seasonings)    March 2000
Kellogg    Worthington Foods    $307 million    November 1999
Kraft Food    Boca Burger    About $100 million    March 2000
Kroger    Fred Meyer Inc.    $8 billion
Creates largest U.S. grocer.    No date
               
Nestle    Power Bar    Not available    February 2000
Phillip Morris    Nabisco    $14.9 billion    June 25, 2000
Unilever    Bestfoods    $20.3 billion    June 6, 2000
     SlimFast    $2.3 billion    April 2000
     Ben & Jerry`s    $326 million    April 2000

2 comments:

  1. Ugh, just when you think you're starting to figure it out! You realize that nagging doubt has validity to it.

    Thank you for this!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have received an email from Hain-Celestial saying that they have no affiliation with Philip Morris or Monsanto (dated 2 April 2011). Now I have to do more research to see what's what. It is likely that the person who wrote the reply is kept in the dark about this.

    ReplyDelete