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GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2014 www.gourmetnews.com GENERAL NEWS 3 Annie's Continued from PAGE 1 foods business." Co-founded in 1989 by Annie Withey and Andrew Martin, Annie's is well-known among specialty food shoppers for its line of natural, good-for-you mixes and snacks, as well as for its iconic bunny rabbit logo. The company offers macaroni and cheese mixes, meal mixes, canned pastas, frozen snacks and entrees, dressings, condiments, crackers, pretzels, granola bars and more – all manufactured without artificial flavors, colors, GMOs, growth hormones or per- sistent pesticides. "Annie's will remain dedicated to our mission: to cultivate a healthier and hap- pier world by spreading goodness through nourishing foods, honest words and con- duct that is considerate and forever kind to the planet," said John Foraker, Chief Exec- utive Officer of Annie's. "Authentic roots, great tasting products, high quality organic and natural ingredients and sustainable business practices will continue to be the cornerstones of the Annie's brand." Despite Foraker's insistence that Annie's will not waver in its commitment to natural and organic principles, many consumers are reacting with concern to the news that one of their favorite brands will now fall under General Mills' purview. When the Organic Consumers Association sent out an initial action alert to its base urging con- sumers to boycott Annie's, for example, it received 22,000 signatures on the first day, an indication of potential widespread con- sumer dissatisfaction with the move. "Initial reaction was based on what his- torically happens," said Katherine Paul, As- sociate Director at the Organic Consumers Association. "On the one hand, it's further evidence of the growth of organics. The fact that these large corporations want to get in on the action is just further proof that the organic food sector is growing. Consumer demand is growing, and that's a good thing. But typically what happens when a com- pany like General Mills acquires one of these brands, we see the quality of the product over time deteriorate as lower quality ingredients are substituted for higher quality ingredients. That often hap- pens unbeknownst to the consumer unless it's a dramatic enough change that the fla- vor is affected. It's the beginning of the de- cline of the quality of the brand. From that perspective, it's not such a good thing." The lion's share of the criticism being di- rected at Annie's surrounds the company's choice to be acquired by a brand that ac- tively fights against GMO labeling laws. Whereas Annie's has made the decision to source all of its ingredients from non-GMO suppliers and supports mandatory GMO la- beling, General Mills regularly donates money to the fight against GMO labeling laws. This seems a clear conflict of interest to those consumers who seek to put their money where their mouth is and support companies that echo their personal values. "We were very public and very vocal about the fact that here we have a company like General Mills that spends millions of dollars to defeat GMO labeling laws and then buys up a brand like Annie's. This is a quandary for the consumer that was loyal to that organic brand," said Paul. "In this case, Annie's contributed money to GMO labeling campaigns to support labeling laws. But General Mills is a big contributor to campaigns to defeat those laws, in addi- tion to being a member of the Grocery Man- ufacturers Association, which sued the state of Vermont for passing a GMO labeling law earlier this year. Conscious consumers don't really want to support a brand whose parent company is spending millions of dollars to defeat GMO labeling laws." Another concern consumers have sur- rounding General Mills' purchase of Annie's is whether or not the acquisition could lead to the erosion of organic standards. "Often when a large corporation buys up organic brands, the corporation works behind the scenes in Washington D.C. to influence, and weaken organic standards in order to allow them to substitute cheaper ingredi- ents and increase their profits," said Paul. "The more organic brands they buy out, the more motivation they have to do this." For their part, leaders at General Mills have pledged that they have no intention of changing Annie's or redirecting the way the company sources the ingredients that go into its products. In an earnings call to shareholders, General Mills' CEO Ken Pow- ell said that the plan was to continue to allow the team at Annie's to "do their thing." Of course, Annie's is not the first niche natural products company to come under the purview of a larger corporation, and most major food companies have at least a few organic products brands in their port- folio. Kellogg's, for example, successfully operates vegetarian brands Morningstar Farms and Gardenburger, as well as natural foods scion Kashi. Coca Cola owns Honest Tea, odwalla and smartwater. And General Mills itself already has a strong organic presence, operating a number of brands in the natural products sector, including Lärabar, Cascadian Farm Organic, Food Should Taste Good and Muir Glen. If General Mills is to successfully migrate the Annie's business to its portfolio without alienating the brand's loyal consumer base, it will be the company's responsibility to prove that nothing is changed with the way Annie's products are made or with the way its ingredients are sourced. This could be an uphill battle, however. "You really can't know if you can rely on the company," said Paul. "You can read the ingredients to see if there are any actual changes in ingredients, but you will never know if there are changes to the sourcing for those ingredients and if fair trade prac- tices are still valued." For consumers seeking out alternative sources for natural and organic products, there are a number of resources at their dis- posal. Online resource eatlocalgrown recently published a list of 21 alternative companies that shoppers should check out. The list in- cludes Simply 7, Mary's Gone Crackers, Fol- low Your Heart, Drew's Organic and more. You can read the entire list at www.eatlocal- grown.com/article/13460-alternatives- to-annies-mac-and-cheese.html. Concerned consumers might also want to download the smartphone Buycott App that organizes everyday spending so consumers can support companies that follow their chosen principles and avoid those that do not. You can down- load the app at www.buycott.com. GN Chocolate: The Exhibition Open through January at Academy of Natural Sciences A unique tropical tree. A seed so precious it was used as money. A spicy drink and a sweet snack. A multi-billion-dollar worldwide busi- ness. Indulge in the sumptuous world of chocolate at Chocolate: The Exhibition, pre- sented by Mars Chocolate North America, open now at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia. Chocolate traces the intriguing story of this "food of the gods" from its origin as a unique tropical rainforest plant, to the Maya who made it into a spicy ceremonial drink, to the Aztecs who used cacao seeds as currency, to the Spanish who added sugar and transformed the bitter drink of kings to the sensuous sweet millions of people crave today. The exhibition is a sweet experience that engages all the senses and reveals facets of chocolate most people have never thought about before. On view through January 24, Chocolate is presented in both Spanish and English. There is a $5 fee to enter the exhibit in ad- dition to regular museum admission. Visitors to Chocolate: The Exhibition will explore the plant, the products, the history and the culture of chocolate through the lenses of botany, ecology, an- thropology, economics, conservation and popular culture. Visitors can stand beneath a cacao tree in a lush rainforest replica and examine cacao seed pods up close. They can engage with animated modern-day ma- chinery that turns cacao from seed to sweet, solid bar. They can follow a cacao harvest on a Mexican plantation and ob- serve cacao's preparation for market. They can barter cacao seeds for goods in an Aztec market and learn about Quetzalcoatl, the god who brought the sacred source of chocolate to the Aztecs. And they can ad- mire beautiful porcelain and silver choco- late services from Europe. "Chocolate: The Exhibition will change the way you enjoy chocolate," said Director of Exhibits Jennifer Sontchi. "The fun of the exhibit is that afterward, every bite of chocolate you taste is richer for what you learned about it here." Mars Chocolate History Ambassadors will share chocolate's rich journey through time in hands-on chocolate demonstrations and American Heritage Chocolate ® drink tastings throughout the course of the ex- hibit. Hot chocolate bars, a beer and choco- late tasting, and other engaging activities are planned. For more information, visit www.ansp.org. Museum hours are Monday-Friday, 10am- 4:30pm; Saturday-Sunday, 10am-5pm. GN

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