Ugh, Kraft

“Annie's and its valued employees treat consumers, customers, suppliers, shareholders, and each other, with the same high degree of respect, fairness, & honesty that we expect of others.”

Direct quote from the Annie’s website! I’ll stop doing that after today, but seriously, that is a mighty fine message. It’s rare to see a food company that cares about more than profit. Speaking of profit, it appears that Annie’s can charge high prices not only because they need too (quality ingredients) but because they’re in a niche. The higher quality organics and packaging all contribute to the +20% price over their competitors, but the success indicates they have found the right consumer base willing to pay ("Deal should help natural Mac & Cheese maker boost presence in supermarkets." The Food Institute Report). Their only competitor is Kraft, which to be fair is a gargantuanly massive company, but one that doesn’t sell the same kinds of organic and natural products.

After finding out Kraft was their only major competitor, I looked into it a little bit which confirmed every suspicion I’ve had about that company since I stopped liking EasyMac. KRAFT IS EVIL. It pretends to be all green and sustainable when it’s not at all. It has completely greenwashed its marketing. Since it’s popular now to be seen as a tree-hugging, down to earth business who puts the people first, it makes sense Kraft would go the greenwashing route to attract as many people as possible. Indeed, Kraft was #1 in The Green Life’s (an education based non-governmental organization) 2002 “Don’t Be Fooled” Report, which names the top 10 companies guilty of greenwashing across the globe. But they have other shady business practices too - Kraft is a huge company that owns over 40 smaller companies, mostly through intense acquisitions. 

Sum up: while Kraft clearly dominates Annie’s in terms of size, variety of products, and profit, they lack severely in sincerity, environmental friendliness, and product healthiness.