Some organic food products you may have been purchasing for years have changed ownership without changing their labels. If you want to know who processes the canned organic tomatoes you buy, or your organic milk or the cereal you pour it on, take a look at the research of Dr. Philip Howard.
In 2002, the USDA organic standard was implemented. That same year Dr. Howard, an Assistant Professor at Michigan State, created the first chart of Organic Processing Industry Structure: Acquisitions by the Top 30 Food Processors in North America. The latest version of the chart was updated in 2009 and can be downloaded here.
Other charts with information on organic food brands, including those that remain independent, can be viewed on his website.
Organic Industry: The Movie
Only 18 seconds long, this Organic Industry animation shows the industry as it consolidates from 1995 to 2007 into ownership by fewer — and bigger — brands.
Organic brands, investment firms and multinational food processors all play roles in this animated information graphic. It shows an original 81 independent organic brands, some of which were purchased by these investment firms before being sold to multinational food brands.
Watch it if you want to see how the consolidation of organic food brands is shaping up.
