sunshinegirl_98
November 19th, 2003, 10:55 PM
hi, just thought i'd share this...a few weeks ago while lurking and browsing the boards i came across the info that white wave (makers of silk products) is owned by dean foods, who is a big part of the dairy industry. i went on their website to confirm this and it upset me. anyway, i've always liked white wave and so thought i'd write asking for a little info and advice for my dilemma...what to do when i don't want to indirectly support the dairy industry? here's my response i got back. just thought you might find it interesting. i was very pleased to get the response so quickly and felt a little reassured after hearing from them....in fact, it even gave me hope when i heard about the progress being made and a little bit of hope about dean foods! so i've decided--i'll continue to support them while also supporting some of the smaller soy companies as well :up: :
Thank you for taking the time to contact us. I am the founder and president of White Wave. I want you to know directly from me that your concerns are not unheard or ignored. I have
been a veggie for 30 years. It has been my personal and professional
mission for the last 25 years to change the way people eat and the way
the world works. It A rather lofty and idealistic goal, but one I have
been committed to for a long time. As a person whose been a vegetarian
for 30 years, I am very concerned about humane treatment of animals and
sustainable ecological agriculture.
In order to truly affect the largest percentage of the population it
requires us to operate in a business environment that may at times
appear to be contradictory to our mission. This is one of those
occasions. Consider that the only way we can meet the needs of the 8
million families (our current US penetration) who want to use Silk
Soymilk requires us to process in 10+ factories around the country.
Until Silk began in these factories they were 100% devoted to dairy and
like products. Today we can proudly say the we have converted over 50%
of these factories to predominantly soy processing. Ultimately, we
intend to not only take over all the capacity of these factories but
create or change other facilities into "soy only" producers.
When our products are more profitable to the dairy industry than dairy
products, we will have truly succeeded in our mission by replacing dairy
products with soy. It is our job to outdate dairy. We intend to do this
via quality products, solid financial performance and replacing dairy
products in existent dairy facilities.
We don't see the Dean Foods alliance as a sell-out on White Wave's part,
but rather a buy-in of Dean Foods into our beliefs. This is the first of
a series of steps to really change large business in America. I assure
you that the Dean Foods CEO is very supportive of our efforts.
So long as I am in this position, this is my job. I take it very
seriously. We greatly value your business and support of White Wave. I
hope this letter helps you understand our position and goals. However,
we do realize that you must follow your own convictions and we support
that. We wish you continued success in your pursuit of a healthy
lifestyle.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us. I am the founder and president of White Wave. I want you to know directly from me that your concerns are not unheard or ignored. I have
been a veggie for 30 years. It has been my personal and professional
mission for the last 25 years to change the way people eat and the way
the world works. It A rather lofty and idealistic goal, but one I have
been committed to for a long time. As a person whose been a vegetarian
for 30 years, I am very concerned about humane treatment of animals and
sustainable ecological agriculture.
In order to truly affect the largest percentage of the population it
requires us to operate in a business environment that may at times
appear to be contradictory to our mission. This is one of those
occasions. Consider that the only way we can meet the needs of the 8
million families (our current US penetration) who want to use Silk
Soymilk requires us to process in 10+ factories around the country.
Until Silk began in these factories they were 100% devoted to dairy and
like products. Today we can proudly say the we have converted over 50%
of these factories to predominantly soy processing. Ultimately, we
intend to not only take over all the capacity of these factories but
create or change other facilities into "soy only" producers.
When our products are more profitable to the dairy industry than dairy
products, we will have truly succeeded in our mission by replacing dairy
products with soy. It is our job to outdate dairy. We intend to do this
via quality products, solid financial performance and replacing dairy
products in existent dairy facilities.
We don't see the Dean Foods alliance as a sell-out on White Wave's part,
but rather a buy-in of Dean Foods into our beliefs. This is the first of
a series of steps to really change large business in America. I assure
you that the Dean Foods CEO is very supportive of our efforts.
So long as I am in this position, this is my job. I take it very
seriously. We greatly value your business and support of White Wave. I
hope this letter helps you understand our position and goals. However,
we do realize that you must follow your own convictions and we support
that. We wish you continued success in your pursuit of a healthy
lifestyle.