Burt's Bees is marketed as a homespun natural brand from Durham, N.C., and is proudly described as "Earth Friendly Natural Personal Care and Natural Skin Care for The Greater Good." Of course, the brand downplays that it was sold in 2007 for nearly $1 billion to mega-corporation Clorox.
Brands like Burt's Bees and ice cream-maker Ben & Jerry's attract a growing market of environmentally-conscious consumers. They rely on being marketed as local and natural, but many consumers have no clue that these brands now have mammoth multinational overlords.
Lots of the companies started as mom-and-pops, and though selling to a corporation may have been a hard decision, these small-business owners all sought ways to preserve their ideals as part of a large company. When customers accused Burt's Bees of selling out, then-CEO John Replogle said he personally responded to anyone who provided contact information.
Reporting by Kim Bhasin and Patricia Laya, with additional reporting by Alison Griswold.
Mars bought Seeds of Change for an undisclosed amount in 1997.
Seeds of Change was founded as an agriculture company specializing in rare and organically grown seeds back in 1989. After candy giant Mars bought the company in 1997, Seeds of Change was allowed to keep running mostly as it did before.
As part of its green-friendly mission, Seeds of Change operates a research farm near El Guique, N.M., along the river valley flood plain of the Rio Grande. Originally located by the Gila Wilderness in the southwestern part of the state, the company relocated after purchasing its new property in 1996.
General Mills bought Cascadian Farm for an undisclosed amount in 1999.
Cascadian Farm used to be famous for its cereals with "no added sugar." A few years ago, this label disappeared from its boxes.
A Cascadian Farm customer said her children noticed a funny new taste in their Purely O's. It turned out the cereal had tripled its sugar count from 1 gram to 3 grams in 2009.
The move was condemned by Cascadian Farm customers, who felt duped and complained the new cereal tasted "dreadful" and looked "disgusting." Some time later, the company posted a note on the back of Purely O's boxes saying it had returned to a recipe with just 1 gram of sugar.
Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry's for $326 million in 2000.
The ice cream-maker said Unilever was determined to nurture Ben & Jerry's commitment to community values, and would donate 7.5% of profits to a foundation.
However, in 2002 the company was accused of abusing its "All Natural" label by the Center for Science and Public Interest, and in 2005 Ben & Jerry's CEO Walt Freese admitted the company had grown soft on continuing its tradition of social consciousness.
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