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Private-label, or store-brand, dairy products rated with one cow
are sold by grocers or distributors who have the obvious desire of wanting to
grow their presence in the organic marketplace. Unfortunately, there is an
inherent limitation in private-label organic products: organic consumers tend
to want to know where their food is coming from and how it is produced, and
private-label products are anonymous by their nature. As a case in point,
although over 80% of the name-brand organic dairy marketers responded to our
survey only a handful of private-labels were open enough to participate in the
study.
Even though none of the one cow–rated brands responded to our
survey request, we were able to determine that these brands were, at the time
of our research, buying some or all of their organic milk from factory-farm
sources. We conducted our research in this area through interviews with a
number of industry sources and through federally maintained records
Many of these grocery chains have very little past experience in marketing
organic food. Making organics more convenient and affordable to consumers is a
laudable goal. We operate on the assumption that many of these marketing
entities were unaware of the five-year-long controversy concerning factory
farms producing "organic" milk, and that they entered into contractual
agreements in good faith. Some of the inaccurate and misleading claims or
images made in their labeling are likely just rhetoric that the factory-farm
suppliers of milk passed on to them.
We hope that these organizations will make immediate plans to switch milk
suppliers. Staff at The Cornucopia Institute will be happy to help them connect
with potential family-farm producers and assist them in crafting a message to
their customers. It would be unreasonable to expect that they could instantly
change suppliers in a very tight supply market. But announcing a plan to phase
out milk from ethically questionable sources would be an excellent start.
So the bottom line to private-label organic products, whether a dairy item
or any other commodity, is "buyer beware." We encourage consumers to
be vigilant and contact stores to confirm who is supplying their private-label
milk, or to just pay an extra quarter or two for name-brand milk from farmers
and brands that are willing to be open with them and who share their values.
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