Most Amazon brands are duds, not disrupters, study finds
Amazon’s greatly feared foray into private-label products isn’t a threat to other businesses in the slightest. Most of these products aren’t attractive to consumers even when the company elevates them in search results, and the notion that Amazon would be able to use its data to dominate a category is “just a conspiracy theory” according to experts. Read more at Bloomberg …
US Senator Tammy Baldwin renews effort to get ‘milk’ label taken off nondairy products
Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, has teamed up with Jim Risch, a Republican from Idaho, to reintroduce legislation that “would combat what Baldwin described as the ‘unfair practice of mislabeling non-dairy products.’” The legislation has not been successful in the past and Wisconsin’s (and many farmers nationwide) continue to struggle “amid low milk prices and decreased demand for their products.” Read more at Journal Sentinel …
Organic Valley CEO/co-founder steps down
George Siemon is leaving the CEO position and will be replaced in the interim by Bob Kirchoff, chief business officer. Siemon was one of the seven founders of Organic Valley in 1988, and under his leadership the brand grew revenues to over $1 billion annually. Read more at Supermarket Perimeter …
Restaurant owners, Styrofoam cup maker sue San Diego over Styrofoam ban
Three local restaurant owners, the California Restaurant Association and the Dart Container Corporation of California filed a lawsuit against the city for allegedly doing “zero environmental analysis” prior to moving to ban polystyrene food takeout containers. However, more than 115 other Californian cities have passed similar anti-Styrofoam ordinances that are still in effect, and a lawyer for the city has promised to “vigorously defend” the ban. Read more at Vice …
US food buys offer little relief from trade war
The USDA had pledged to buy $1.2 billion worth of food from American pork, beef and produce farmers last August but has only ordered 11 percent of what was promised to farmers thus far. The Midwest Center for Investigate Reporting recently found that “$137.5 million worth of food bids awarded as of February 5 found that 17 percent of food orders remain unfulfilled.” Read more at New Food Economy …
