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Whole Foods, United Natural Foods Muscle Suppliers to Boycott Consumer Group
It can mobilize the 850,000 people in its network to pressure corporations and governments.
The goal – clean, safe, organic foods and products for America.
One way that OCA raises money – it charges for ads on the group’s popular web site – organicconsumers.org.
Two companies had purchased logo space on the OCA web site – Organic Valley and Nature’s Path.
Until last year.
That’s
when the groups dropped their sponsorship.
Under pressure from Whole Foods Market and United Natural Foods – the two companies that dominate the organics market in the United States.
That’s according to OCA’s national director Ronnie Cummins.
“National sponsors like Organic Valley and Nature’s Path have been threatened by Whole Foods and United Natural Foods that if they continue to support the Organic Consumers Association they will suffer repercussions in the marketplace,” Cummins told Corporate Crime Reporter in an interview last week.
“We
had to take down those logos,” Cummins said. “We understand. We
don’t want a company to go bankrupt simply because they support the right
thing.”
Cummins said high ranking executives at the Organic Valley and Nature’s
Path told him about the threats – but asked that he not disclose their
names.
“Whole Foods is very careful,” Cummins said. “Whole Foods has threatened to sue us a number of times. But they are very careful when they do this sort of arm twisting and intimidation to not leave any evidence of it. This was all verbally committed over the phone or in person.”
The executives from Nature’s Path and Organic Valley “apologized to us and made me promise not to use their names,” Cummins said.
“We are trying to protect these companies and these individuals from the fallout from Whole Foods and United Natural Foods,” Cummins said.
Cummins estimates that OCA lost a total of $40,000 in projected ad revenue as a result of the move.
But he understands that Organic Valley and Nature’s Path can’t afford to offend Whole Foods and United Natural Foods – the main distributor of organic foods in the United States.
“Whole Foods sells $10 billion out of the $75 billion sold a year for the industry,” Cummins said. “So for most companies it’s at least 15 percent, but often up to 25 percent of their total sales. And it’s not just Whole Foods. United Natural Foods was in on it to.”
If they were cut off by those two, they would be driven out of business?
“You would go bankrupt immediately,” Cummins said. “We call Whole Foods and United Natural Foods the organic mafia. And it really is like that. There is tremendous fear in the industry to say anything critical of Whole Foods and United Natural Foods.”
When did Whole Foods and United Natural Foods begin pressuring OCA?
“It has happened over the past twelve months as we stepped up this campaign to expose the myth of natural foods,” Cummins said. “And at first, Whole Foods and United Natural Foods thought they could ignore the campaign. But then they noticed we had an alliance with the United Farmworkers and with the Teamsters.”
Cummins wants Whole Foods and United Natural Foods to sign a Food Sustainability
Pledge.
“That requires them to stop marketing conventional chemical foods as natural,” Cummins said. “And to sell only foods in their store that are certified organic or are in transition to organics. And it requires them to recognize fair trade principles – not just overseas, but in the domestic supply line.”
Whole Foods spokesperson Libby Letton said that Whole Foods did not pressure the two companies to pull the ads.
“For the OCA to continue to mislead consumers about Whole Foods Market and UNFI is alarming and disheartening,” Letton said. “When the OCA launched an untrue campaign against us last year, we did contact our stakeholders, including our suppliers, Team Members, and shoppers, because we wanted to clear up the misinformation that was being spread by the OCA’s campaign. We find it troubling that while the OCA accuses us of pressuring our suppliers against them, they openly call on Whole Foods Market to ‘put the pressure on’ suppliers to transition to organic.”
“Meanwhile, the truth is that Whole Foods Market continues to champion organics more than ever. We take enormous pride in working with hard-working and ethical organic farmers and food producers to offer our shoppers the very best organic products on the planet,” Letton said.
United Natural Foods could not be reached for comment.
- Posted in
66 Comments so far
Show AllSeems like all the small groceries, small and medium sized food processors/producers, and the food cooperatives should get an anti-trust movement moving against United Natural Foods.
I know that United Natural Foods is not the brand on everyone's mind...but it is the bigger wrench in sustainability of our food supply than Whole Foods is.
United Natural Foods very consistently uses their heavy hand to influence the food market and consistently leaches profit from food producers and anyone else in the way.
This is another example of the Wal-Mart model being applied.
Exactly!!!!!!
"D"
This latest bit of corporate misbehavior once again proves the need for an active anti-trust enforcement arm of the United States federal government. Unfortunately, this has not occurred in any meaningful way since the break-up of Ma Bell in 1982. What good are statues (the Sherman Anti-Trust Acts) that have stood up to US Supreme Court muster (though that is an iffy proposition with the current corporate loving majority) when the organ that is supposed to enforce stands aside and does nothing?
Whole Foods just lost all my business and I will be sure to tell friends about their arm twisting tactics. It is just as bad in the health food industry, lies and scams. OCA should clean up their act too. And I will be calling my local co-op to protest their connection with UNFI. They all charge outrageous prices anyway and people who want good stuff get duped into believing they have to. It's pure bull shit. Meijers and Kroger have decent prices and sell Organic Valley and Nature's Path.
UNFI isn't really selling at wholesale to grocers, they are running way over and forcing the prices up, gouging I believe they call it. WF is so over priced I about gag when I see their prices...not anymore, done.
I know this because I did once have to purchase from UNFI and believe they are out to get ya...Their was an organization they bought out and they were good guys. UNFI is corpoRAT just like WF. Boycott them both, and ask your local co-op where their goods come from.
"Whole Foods just lost all my business..."
They lost mine last year when I learned Mackey is a right wing Randian who opposes unions and social programs. I will never a give a penny to him.
"...But then they noticed we had an alliance with the United Farmworkers and with the Teamsters...”
"...And it requires them to recognize fair trade principles –not just overseas, but in the domestic supply line..."
So there you have it. They could handle the criticism of watered down organic standards; or of the BPA lining in can of food that is supposed to be "organic".
But a sure fire way to send a libertarian capitalist scumbag like Whole Food's Mackey into apoplectic rage is to suggest that the worker should get a fair shake, and that consumer involvement are an important weapon in that fight.
If you ahaven't already started, please boycott Whole Foods, it is nothing but a dreadful display of rich bourgeois conspicuous consumption anyway. Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do about United Natural Foods - they are probably a monopoly source for many stores and food co-ops.
You should always look for produce grown locally - in your home state as a minimum - even if it isn't certified organic, which is increasingly meaningless anyway.
You can support a local CSA farm in your area, but don't be shy about asking about the farm's labor practices - does the hired help work under a UFWA contract?
Ah yes, United Natural Foods. I belonged to a food buying coop and ordered through a company called Blooming Praire years ago. Then they got bought out by UNFI and immediately prices started going up, almost doubling the prices for some items. Then I noticed that prices started going up at my locally owned natural foods grocer as well. Guess who their supplier was?
UNFI is a parasitic cyst to coops and grocers. Luckily my city is too small for a Whole Foods, for I fear if they built one here, it would wipe out the locally owned stores. Same goes for Trader Joe's.
"Whole Foods is very careful,” Cummins said. “Whole Foods has threatened to sue us a number of times. But they are very careful when they do this sort of arm twisting and intimidation to not leave any evidence of it. This was all verbally committed over the phone or in person.”
That's what tiny pocket tape recorders are for.
Tiny pocket recorders...that's what I thought too.
However, most all the larger corporations, and I'll bet Whole Foods, has electronic devices hooked up to their phone lines that can detect the signature of a pocket tape recorder over the line.
I tried it once, with another large shark-like corporation, and they came back and said they knew that we had taped the conversation without their knowledge (or without first letting them know). Almost killed our "relationship" with them, but it didn't.
You could probably get away with taping "Face to Face" conversations, although I know the technology is out there to detect that also.
Colorado (where I live) is actually one of a few states where it is perfectly legal to record a phone conversation without the party on the other end knowing. A police officer friend explained it to me once. SHE could not record a phone conversation between two different parties, but it is perfectly legal for one party to record it. There is a legal term to describe what kind of state that is, but I can't think of it at the moment. Various stores (like Radio Shack) sell the little devices you can affix to your phones -- they even have ones made for cell phones.
It would be great for the OCA to be able to record a conversation in a state like Colorado, where Whole Foods was strong-arming them like this. I boycotted that store a long time ago.
Call up your land line from your cell, put it on speaker phone and tape it from home.
As the CEO of Organic Valley Cooperative, I need to respond to the March 21 Corporate Crime Reporter article about the affront that OCA continues to deliver to Whole Foods Market and UNFI. First, our farmer cooperative is a mission and value based business, and our decisions are made from that core truth. Over the years, we have supported OCA, because we believe in activism and diverse approach. We do not always approve of the tactics used by OCA. For us working together rather than attacking each other is the better path. The misleading natural food label that is sold in all natural food stores, supermarkets and retail food cooperatives, not just Whole Foods Markets, is a concern, but the answer is in the choices the consumer makes. We need to focus on getting the consumer educated enough to choose organic. This should be a major focus for OCA. We have lots of work to do in this field, and we see little value in shooting at the retail sector.
Both Whole Foods and UNFI are very movement oriented and provide leadership for many crucial issues that both OCA and Organic Valley support. Since we deal with all the retailers and distributers, we are surprised that OCA chooses to attack the best for not being perfect. Yes, we have supported OCA, and we have not agreed with their tactics so the compromise is to not have our logo on their web. We want the Organic Valley brand to represent solutions, cooperation, high integrity and organic philosophy. The continued fighting in the organic community over perfection is allowing our opposition to gain ground. There was no corporate crime of Organic Valley being bullied, just us being responsible to have our logo represent the highest integrity. Cooperatively, George
"We need to focus on getting the consumer educated enough to choose organic."
No, Whole Foods needs to stop buying up stores that sell only organic produce and replacing them with yet more WF stores. That's if they don't simply kill the store to eliminate a competitor. To some D.C. metro area residents, Fresh Fields is only a fond memory, but we've still got M.O.M.'s (My Organic Market), where you don't have to spend the first 20 minutes looking for the organic labels.
Thanks for weighing in with Organic Valley's point of view, George. We appreciate it.
I understand the argument that the perfect should not be the enemy of the good. I understand that it's not just Whole Foods that sells "natural" products that may contain pesticides and GMOs—it's co-ops and small health-food stores as well.
But, there may be something to the argument that getting the market leader to shift focus will cause the others to follow. I think that happened when McDonalds was targeted by activists and ultimately changed their menu and packaging, and I think it happened when WalMart decided to carry organic produce. You may well know the specifics of these events better than I, and if I have the facts wrong please correct me.
If OCA's strategy is wrong, and it may be, I don't think they can be faulted on the "integrity" front. With evidence mounting year after year regarding the linkage between growth hormones, pesticides, other chemicals and GMOs on the one hand, and the increased rates of cancer, neurological diseases and reproductive disorders on the other, there comes a time when education alone just isn't enough anymore, morally speaking.
OCA has long been a leader in consumer education and is a great resource. I certainly urge Organic Valley to engage them in dialogue and find a way to work together.
___________________
For others here at CD, here's the OCA campaign that is causing all the fuss. This came to my email box recently:
Take Action: Ask Whole Foods and UNFI to Sign the Sustainable Food Pledge
Ask Whole Foods and its main supplier, UNFI, to:
1. Cease marketing conventional food as "natural" and instead double the sales of certified organic foods and products, from one-third to two-thirds of sales by 2013.
2. Support smaller retailers and co-ops that seriously promote organics by providing UNFI's highest discounts that are currently enjoyed by Whole Foods and UNFI's conventional grocery chain customers.
3. Adopt a purchasing policy that emphasizes the sustainability of family-scale organic farms and local producers.
4. Adopt, monitor and enforce domestic fair trade standards that honor: workers' rights to a safe and healthy work environment; workers' rights to a decent standard of living; job security based on years of loyal service; and the right of workers to expeditiously choose - free from management influence or interference - union representation and collective bargaining.
5. Promote a sustainable environment that includes the human right to health care; safe, healthy and nutritional foods; and the elimination of business practices that accelerate climate change/environmental destruction.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/whole_foods_unfi.cfm
...and conversations with Whole Foods and UNFI had nothing to do with it? Could you explain exactly what it is you're so against? The points made by 'Naturally' above seem quite reasonable to me. How do those points allow the opposition to 'gain ground'? I'm sorry, but all I'm reading in your post is jibber-jabber...
Thank you for your contribution to the discussion, George! It's important to hear everyone's views, and I appreciate you trying to balance the scales a bit.
I still don't like Whole Foods, though . . .
There is something about this article that seems 'dodgy' to me. It fails to convince and I say that a an organic food
eater/purchaser who shops only at local, family-owned food stores, never at the larger, would-be-healthier-than-you chains.
I dont't know what to make of this article or the CEO's response below.The local (San Francisco) Safeway isn't bad, and its organics sections if continually expanding.The Whole Foods scene is so off-putting: the hype, the smiley faces, the fat cats spending way too much money, the wa-benzies in the parking lot etc. etc., so I don't go there very often.Now, because of the boycott, I don't go there at all.Fortunately, there are small markets-like Bi-rite-that supply very fine food-at somewhat exalted prices (but no more expensive than Whole Foods), and there are lots of farmers' markets.Anyway, no one forces any one to go to Whole Foods-there are lots of alternatives, at least here.
And Safeway is unionized.
The Organic Valley response below basically can be summed up as:
just go along to Whole Foods and do your duty by handing over your money and buying there. Don't think too much.
There is a Whole Foods within five miles of me, but I usually go across the bridge into Portland to New Seasons, or across town to the Farmers Market to get produce. Otherwise, our local Safeway shows where in Washington and Oregon their produce comes from; and at least they have union labor.
Ahhh, the beautiful 'free market' at work! Isn't it wonderful! One company strong-arms the others - fantastic!
* end sarcasm>
It seems like only yesterday that the organic food industry was a hippie operation, run out of collectives and coops.
I will shop exclusively at farmers markets because i buy from the producer of the goods i buy there. The money stays local and lower green house gases are produced. Here in upper midwest we are froze out of fresh produce 7 months of the year. Every little bit helps.
Whole Foods is a rip-off. In santa cruz, ca there are several independently-owned organic food providers. If you live near one, you will never go to a Whole Paycheck. Here's why:
1. Fresher produce, lasts longer
2. Better variety - of pretty much everything
3. No BS '365 brand'
4. Better prices - across the board.
5. Smaller, local producers supported, not just the organic mega-brands.
6. Better variety and pricing (and more organic) in the bin sections.
7. No twisted, calvinistic, Randian, anti-union CEOs..
Of course, farmers' markets are still best, and unfortunately most people don't live near santa cruz, ca..
I'm in the Bay Area and I do the same: I have only set foot in Whole Payceck once, years ago. I will not ever set foot in one again. F-'em.
Happy to say have only been to a whole foods store a couple of times when out of town and have not been impressed. In the Twin Cities, where I live, food co-ops are aplenty. And farmers markets when in season. We belong to two co-ops for20 years or so. And don't get me started about Trader Joe's. Local rules.
"While free markets tend to democratize a society, unfettered capitalism leads invariably to corporate control of government."
Robert Kennedy. Jr.
There is something to be said, not for perfectionism of the good, but for recognition that the 'expansion' characteristics of scale in national chains as opposed to small local do call for obligation of not practicing usury, respecting the social dynamics inherent in management/labor, and being aware that when a corporation seek to retain high ptofile market share, it is the RESPONSIBILITY of a health and ethics based movement (from which said large corp BENEFITS) to call it on abusing the ethics.
Thank you OCA - and posters in debate.
The Whole Foods vibration is not positive. Say no thanks to boutique, "BO Koo" bucks natural foods. It is really good to read comments which expose Whole Foods as greedy capitalists posing as a company that cares about people. Pressure to silence a consumer advocacy group shows an ugly, negative energy. Just another reason to support locally owned food suppliers, especially farmers.
If the government heavily subsidized small organic farmers and producers instead of the massive corporate welfare subsidies to ADM, CONagra, Monsanto, etc we would ALL be eating healthier. Period.
Sooooo... am doing a 70 minute audio show for kids on sustainable food and found this exchange helpful. Would it be fair to say there is zero alternative to UNFI for organic food producers? If so, is this organization being addressed on any level? ie any competition on the horizon. Thanks folks!
David Strohm
Editor
boomkids.com
Frontier foods distributes to food co-ops I know that much.
http://www.frontiercoop.com/
boomkids:
It might be fair to say there is zero alternative to UNFI for organic food producers of a particular size.
Corporate size farms need to market to corporations because they need to move huge amounts of product. Organic or conventional.
Smaller, locally oriented farmers don't need these big guys at all. What they need is for more people to take the time to shop "locally grown" small farms where organic is not being watered down at all and your food dollars stay in your community.
Dollars spent at chain stores go straight out of town - never to return.
Boycott WF if you want, but do your shopping at local farm stands, farmers markets and CSAs.
Here's an example of a regional wholesaler that is part of a vertically integrated system: farm, distributor, retailer. It's all co-op in structure, so no corporation is ever going to buy it out. Don't know how many other regional wholesalers there are, but Co-op Partners looks like a good model.
http://www.cooppartners.coop/
If it walks like a gangster and if it looks like a gangster and if it acts like a gangster I won't shop there•
Perfect.
The solution is simple just shop at your local food co-op do it and stop yammering. CSAs and framers markets are good too. Libertarian owned Whole Foods is just a yuppie scam.
not everyone, maybe most? don't have a local food co-op.. I wish there were more.
Usually, if your community is large enough to support a WF-type franchise, it's big enough to have a family-owned or co-op type of organic food store. The organic choice in the latter is much more diverse than in the former even though the store itself may be smaller.
Another alternative is if you know your neighbors you may be able to get together with them and order directly from frontier (the link I gave above), some people I know did that when I lived in rural Oregon. Also support local CSAs and farmers markets so the money goes directly to small farmers. Do anything to avoid Whole Foods IMO it's not just fake organic the CEO is an anti health reform Libertarian douchebag. Even Trader Joe's is IMO slightly better Whole Foodsis just as bad as Union busting Krogers and other big box stores IMO it just has better marketing to upscale "liberals."
Also did you do a google search to see if thee is a co-op in nearby town that you may go to anyway for errands or whatever?
I stopped giving my money to Whole Foods about 1 year ago, ever since their CEO started commenting on health care, and also after reading up on their anti-union practices.
I only buy from a community food co-op now.
As for WF, shoplifting still works great!
I spoke with a fiend who goes to Purdue in Indiana yesterday, and she was telling me about some folks trying to start a Co-op there. But their Farmers Market is filled with farmers leaving with tons of produce at the end of the day. Everyone drives a long way to buy from Whole Paycheck or Traitor Joes, but most buy Wal-Mart Organic. The best way to generate consumers of Organic is through fear and PR Propaganda campaigns. People have to fear whats in there food, how its made, and what its doing to their bodies. Empathy for farmers isn't going to be enough to change spending habits. Fear will bring people into the big PseudoOrganic retailers. You need that consumer base before you can get people to buy memberships at Co-ops.
Food Inc really induced fear with vivid images, and then showed how Corporate Organic like Organic Valley can remove millions of tons of chemicals from landscapes across the US by getting Wal-Mart's buissness.
Its just one model, I don't know what best, but organic is still a drop in the bucket of food consumed and produced nationwide.
I grow my own food in my yard though...five chickens too.
what the hell's wrong w/ whole foods' customers...
they're savvy and motivated enough to seek out organic foods in the first place...
why they hell do they continue to spend with a company that's working at cross purposes...
they're buying organic... a good thing... from a company working against other "organic" issues... that's a bad thing...
that's like buying a hybrid hummer...
i get plenty of "organic" produce at the local farm market... now they're carrying meats... breads and other products... locally produced grown and benefits other people in my immediate geographic area....
As the Founder, President and CEO of Nature’s Path, I feel compelled to respond to your post about the Corporate Crime Reporter article.
Nature’s Path has spent decades building support for organic farming and we are committed to this path; working together with our partners, retailers and industry associations. We are no longer supporting the Organic Consumer Association (OCA) because we do not agree with their tactics and we do not want to aid in anything that divides our industry or attacks our valued partners. If they change their negative position, we will reconsider giving our support.
We strongly believe that the organic industry will be strengthened and best served by working together not against each other. Whole Foods and UNFI have provided excellent leadership on many of the critical issues our industry continues to face; the Non-GMO Project is one such example where they have reached out to their suppliers to initiate real change. We encourage the OCA to focus on the real issues of collaborating on growing the organic industry and generating awareness about the positive benefits organics have for the people and the planet, while differentiating real Organic from toxic agriculture (often labeled as "natural") with integrity and unity.
Arran Stephens, Nature's Path Foods Inc.
This is a recording, this is a recording, please dial 9 or hang up at the tone... beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
"We encourage the OCA to focus on ... differentiating real Organic from toxic agriculture (often labeled as 'natural') ..."
That's the part I don't understand. Nature's Path and Organic Valley want OCA to differentiate between real organic food and rip-off "natural" food (which is often just conventional, factory-farmed food).
But, when OCA calls out Whole Foods on that very subject, these same companies take offense.
What do they really want OCA to do? Should they shut up about fake "natural" food, or should they work to make companies stop lying to consumers?
It would be sad to think companies that take pride in mission and integrity would sacrifice consumer health just so they could keep their sales numbers up. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil? Is that what's going on here? I'm hoping I'm misreading this.
People....both companies are a C O R P O R A T I O N.
Stocks & Big Profit - isn't that what makes the world go around?
"We find it troubling that while the OCA accuses us of pressuring our suppliers against them, they openly call on Whole Foods Market to ‘put the pressure on’ suppliers to transition to organic.”
imo, it's not wise for the WF spokesperson to be comparing these two. One is freedom of speech and anti-trust. The other is legitimate market pressure. Lawyers take notice?