Selling Out or Buying In?

[robert]

Selling Out or Buying In?

by Dara O'Rourke

 

First my socially responsible ice cream. Then my local, earth-conscious juice. Then my hip, alternative, throwback sneakers. Then my daughter's organic yogurt. Then my wife's animal-friendly cosmetics. Now it's the one toothpaste I believed in . . . if it makes any sense to believe in a toothpaste.

 

Ben and Jerry's was bought out by Unilever. Fresh Samantha was devoured by Odwalla, itself owned by Coca-Cola. Converse by Nike. Stonyfield Farms by Danone. Aveda by Estee Lauder. The Body Shop by L'Oreal. Now Tom's of Maine sells out, is bought out, is merged in, or, if you believe the founder, is to be a ''stand-alone subsidiary" of Colgate-Palmolive.

 

Many of the products we think of as ''alternative" or ''natural" or ''socially responsible" or just plain ''independent" are now owned by major multinational corporations. Perhaps this is good? A sign that mainstream America cares and wants to buy these kinds of products? Tom Chappell, cofounder of Tom's of Maine, calls it an irony that ''although we are growing in the high teens and low 20s, it's not enough to meet a demand 10 times the size." Tom goes on to explain that, ''about 25 percent of Americans are interested in these kinds of products."

 

So as Tom wants us to believe, this selling-out isn't about cashing in, it's about reaching the masses through those elusive retail channels only a multinational corporation can access.

 

And maybe this is good news for environmentally and socially responsible products. A sign that Main Street and Wall Street are finally buying into companies that do well by doing good. Certainly this reminds us that global corporations have the potential to spread phthalate-free perfumes and organic juices just as fast as they spread Marlboros and Coke.

 

And maybe these multinationals will even adopt some of the principles and practices that made Tom's grow so fast and turned Ben and Jerry and Body Shop owner Anita Roddick into trusted names. Imagine if L'Oreal followed the Body Shop's lead and stopped animal testing and phased out the most toxic chemicals they slip into their face creams. Or if Coca-Cola listened to Odwalla's mission statement and committed to nourishing people and caring for the earth. Or if Unilever copied Ben and Jerry's old policy on limiting CEO salaries.

 

This could be good.

 

Unfortunately, we have seen little evidence of this sweet organic cream rising to the top of the global milkshake.

 

In fact, these brands seem a little embarrassed of their new adoptive parents. Tom says simply that packaging will not identify his company as a subsidiary of Colgate. Which makes me wonder how many hipsters know that their Converse All-Stars and their Hurley skateboard hoodies are produced by Nike? Or that their Odwalla Wellness Fruit Drink with Echinacea is manufactured by Coke?

 

This stealth relationship is a sign that while these multinationals covet progressive brands, they are at least a little nervous about losing the trust and connections these small companies have built with consumers. These global buy-outs will certainly move Tom's into the mainstream, but it will also connect these small firms to big global controversies. The Body Shop is being boycotted in England for the sins of L'Oreal. Converse is being criticized by anti-sweatshop activists. Odwalla has been included in campus boycotts against Coke.

 

These new relationships also connect these firms to demands for even faster growth. Tom is no longer really of Maine. He is now of Wall Street. And 20 percent growth may just not be enough. Will he now feel pressures to put profits before people and the environment? Will he stop doing the things that made me like him in the first place -- like putting natural ingredients in his toothpastes and calling out big companies like Colgate for putting saccharin in theirs?

 

Ultimately these deals threaten the one thing that really made these companies special -- that consumers believed in their values. As subsidiaries of major multinational firms, they will no longer be given the benefit of the doubt about what these companies stand for, what they believe in, what they are trying to achieve. They now have to prove that they are not just selling out. They have to be much more transparent and back up their social and environmental claims. And they have to show that they are improving their parent companies rather than being abused by them.

 

Maybe I shouldn't have ever believed in a toothpaste or a shampoo or an ice cream. I now realize I didn't really know that much about Tom or Anita or Ben anyway. And I will now ask a lot more before I trust or believe in them again.

 

Dara O'Rourke is an assistant professor in the College of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley.

[willpeavy]

I think "selling out" is the reason soy milk and veggie dogs are all over supermarket shelves at the big corporate chains where most people shop. If those companies didn't "sell out," products such as these would still only reach a much smaller market at health food and specialty stores. When I first became a vegetarian there was no such thing as veggie burgers in the mainstream grocery store. 15 or 20 years ago most people would say, "What on Earth is a veggie burger?" Now, they are everywhere in the big supermarkets and big chain restaurants. I think this is a good thing.

 

***Edited for clarity

Edited April 7, 2006 by willpeavy

[finbarrio]

I think the jury is out.

I appreciate that these business owners wanted to make a buck, and the distribution advantage that their new owners give them, but I worry that what made those companies special will eventually rub against what makes them profitable. For example, if Such and Such Organic Ice Cream gets bought out and the new company could realize a big savings if the ice cream wasn't organic, then I wonder what will win - what made the product special, or what will make it more profitable? Those big companies are accountable to their shareholders after all. And big corporations have the lobby to change things like what "organic" means, and if there's a buck in it for them, they will most definitely try to relax whatever regulations they can, which is really scary (and is already being tried).

It also means that they have to suffer all that comes with being that big national brand. For example, if a company that would never test on animals is bought out by a company that does, then that product loses its ability to make that claim, and that sets the movement back.

So we'll see. If past experiences in other industries, like banking and farming, is any indication, consolidation is bad news.

[neil]

i'm with Will on this. i think bringing these products to the masses outweighs the negative aspects.

 

if the companies are changed enough for the bad, new socially responsible ones will hopefully pop up to replace them.

[SeaSiren]

I think "selling out" is the reason soy milk and veggie dogs are all over supermarket shelves at the big corporate chains where most people shop. If those companies didn't "sell out," products such as these would still only reach a much smaller market at grocery stores. When I first became a vegetarian there was no such thing as veggie burgers in the mainstream grocery store. Most people would say, "What on Earth is a veggie burger?" Now, they are everywhere in the big supermarkets and big chain restaurants. I think this is a good thing.

I totally agree.

[Crash]

I have to agree that the product will reach more people - which is good, but I also have to agree that the jury is out to see if their standards change.

[Bigbwii]

Unfortunatly this is the way the whole world is going!!

[finbarrio]

I guess I think that when these companies started out, they had the best of intentions - making products in less cruel and/or less harmful ways. I just feel like the "selling out" has the potential to change the mission from kinder products to more profitable ones. And when kindness and profits collide, I worry that profits will win out.

 

But we'll see. Maybe the world is just evolving.

[neil]

i hope they realize that the reason that these companies have done well is b/c they cater to people who give a damn. (for lack of better words )

 

to see how far along this corporate gobbling up has come, check this out.

 

http://certifiedorganic.bc.ca/rcbtoa/services/images/organic-industry-jun-05.jpg

http://certifiedorganic.bc.ca/rcbtoa/services/corporate-ownership.html

[compassionategirl]

Neil, I LOVE LOVE how you put that:

 

"...these companies cater to people who give a damn. "

 

I dont think that it can be put better than that.

 

And I love love love that your avatar with you and your lil kitties.

[RawFigure]

I am so glad these companies are catering to us. If it was not for Dole, I would not have Organic Banana's at my Grocery store and I will not eat the "regular ones"! And that is just one item I buy provided by large companies..well see above chart.

 

I believe in abundance so if someone in a large Corp. sees it is profitable to get into the Vegan and Organic Movement, more power to them they are after all catering to us in there endevor.

 

We all have the "right to opportunity" in this country that is what makes it great ..and there are few if any, Companies (and people ) are 100% pure and ethical. Someone could even find a fault with Whole Food Markets if we looked close enough.

 

Sometimes I think we are too Judgemental of others and it gives the Community a bad name. If we speak abundance we will have abundance.

[compassionategirl]

Whole Food Markets if we looked close enough.

 

 

you neednt look that close. they sell dead animals - you can see it standing miles away.

[finbarrio]

Sometimes I think we are too Judgemental of others and it gives the Community a bad name. If we speak abundance we will have abundance.

I appreciate your idealistic view of this. I'm just concerned that these big companies are more (or only) concerned with profits, as opposed to providing products for "people who give a damn". And the USDA is going to help them by watering down the definition of "organic" as these big companies lobby them to. It has already happened, and the true organic growing/farming community is struggling to keep them from doing it any further.

 

Here's an example:

Writing for the New York Times Sunday Magazine (5/13/01), Michael Pollan reported that Organic Cow, previously represented to consumers as an organic dairy based in the Northeast and consisting of a network of small farms, was bought out by Horizon (who is owned by Dean - #23 on the graphic Neil provided above) . Another source of organic dairy products, Horizon is a $127 million public corporation that has become the Microsoft of organic milk, controlling 70 percent of the retail market. The milk is now "ultrapasteurized" using a highheat process that "kills the milk," destroying its enzymes and many of its vitamins so it can be sold over long distances. Arguably, ultrapasteurized organic milk is actually less nutritious than conventionally pasteurized non-organic milk. Horizon's "factory farms" in the West are described as a clear example of the certifiability of inhumane practices through the emerging corporate organics system. Pollan writes: "On Horizon's dairy farms in the west, thousands of cows that never encounter a blade of grass spend their days confined to a fenced dry lot, eating (certified organic) grain and tethered to milking machines three times a day." (Carole Resnick)

 

Granted, most of us don't drink milk, but it sure makes me wonder from where/how the organic banana sitting in front of me was procured.

 

Neil - as first glance I thought that graphic was a London Tube map.

[Odidnetne]

I think it's great that the products get to the mainstream for other people to see, but I don't really buy them, well, unless you consider organic food getting everywhere a sign of buyouts, but that's about it.

[neil]

Neil, I LOVE LOVE how you put that:

 

"...these companies cater to people who give a damn. "

 

I dont think that it can be put better than that.

 

And I love love love that your avatar with you and your lil kitties.

thanks so much!

Neil - as first glance I thought that graphic was a London Tube map.

funny! but yeah, i can see that.