Product Name | Publix | |
Rating | (2) | |
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Location | ||
Products | Fluid milk products | |
Market Area | Southeast | |
Web Site | ||
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Private-label, or store-brand, dairy products rated
with two cows
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 two cow
rated–brands responded to our
survey request, we were able to determine that these brands were, at
the time
of our research, buying organic milk from highly rated sources. We
conducted
our research in this area through interviews with a number of industry
sources
and through federally maintained records. If these companies want to truly express a commitment
to organics, and
communicate this tangibly to their customer base, we would encourage
them to
specify on their label what dairy farmers and cooperatives they are
"partnering with." This will give consumers valuable information to
judge their ethical approach and simultaneously afford farmers more
marketplace
security, as it will make it much more difficult to change suppliers
quickly if
competitors try to undercut current milk pricing. So the bottom line for 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. |
Criteria | Points | Comments |
Ownership Structure | 0 | No answer |
Milk Supply | 0 | No answer |
Disclosure of Information for Verification | 0 | No answer |
Certifier farms | 0 | No answer |
Certifier processing | 0 | No answer |
Cows on pasture time/acreage provided | 0 | No answer |
Health and longevity of cows | 0 | No answer |
Replacement animals only from organic farms | 0 | No answer |
Antibiotics used on young cattle | 0 | No answer |
Reproductive hormones used | 0 | No answer |
Farm support oversight | 0 | No answer |
Outside dairy ingredients purchased | 0 | No answer |
TOTAL SCORE | 0 | TWO COWS - PRIVATE-LABEL (good -
questionable long-term commitment to organics) Note: information based
on "industry sources." None of the two-cow private-label brands
participated in the study. |