Robert Kennedy On Violence
Words of Robert Kennedy, one of NBN’s heroes, from a speech delivered to the Cleveland City Club on April 5, 1968 one day after Martin Luther King was assasinated. If you take time to read anything today, put this on top of your list. Mr.Chairmen,Ladies And Gentlemen This is a time of shame and sorrow. […]
Thoughts on Katrina
NBN is quiet today. Seeing a palette of Gatorade loaded onto a helicopter flying to the Astrodome, we realized that our normal attitude of snarking at corporate America’s attempt to make food cheaper and profits better doesn’t inspire us today. In other words, while we realize that battle for sustainability isn’t separate from creating a […]
Politics Rule The Roost As Another FDA Official Resigns
The director of the FDA’s Office of Women’s Health, Susan Wood, resigned Wednesday over the agency’s decision to postpone indefinitely a ruling on whether to allow the sale of the morning-after pill to be sold without a prescription. The pill, used as an emergency contraceptive device, was deemed safe and recommended for OTC sale, by […]
UNFI Posts Huge Growth for Fourth Quarter
United Natural Foods released strong figures for the fourth quarter that leaving analysts and others yelling the equivalent of “VA va va voom, baby, shake it!” UNFI sales increased 22% for the quarter and 23% for the fiscal year, with yearly earnings of $41.6. on over $2 billion in sales. UNFI cited increased sales from […]
Where Art Thou Cap’n Crunch?
In an announcement nearly as surprising as the fact that Starbuck’s opened a new store up this week, the Quaker Oats Company announced the results of a company sponsored study. Tufts University psychologists found that boys and girls did better on tests when they ate oatmeal than when they ate Cap’n Crunch. Furthermore the study […]
Feds Reverse Ban on Use of USDA Organic Seal—Let Them Eat Soap
The USDA announced that it would reverse a rule prohibiting the use of the USDA Organic seal on body care, pet food and all other non-food items. Last April the Agency decided that only food items could use the USDA seal. Previous to that, under advisory rulings the agency had allowed organic claims for non-food […]
Wild Oats Stop and Shop Store Gets Maternal Thumbs Up. Mother Knows Best!
Those of you who read NBN regularly (as you should) know that our mother ship, also known as Levine’s Mom, was given the task of checking out the grand opening of Wild Oat’s second lifestyle boutique in a Stop & Shop store. Well, the initial word from Mom is that the boutique within a store […]
Wild Oats Unveils Second Store in Stop & Shop NBN’s Mother Ship Sent to Investigate
While the new Wild Oats lifestyle boutique that is celebrating its grand opening today isn’t in my mother’s Stop & Shop store, it is in one just a few more miles from her house. The conversation below took place this morning: “Mom, I need you to be a stringer, to do some research for me.” […]
Buyer’s Remorse: Why Bigger Natural Companies Often Aren’t Better
Lest anyone get us wrong, big companies buying small ones isn’t necessarily a problem for NBN. Usually yes, but if Organic Valley for some reason were to buy up, say, Mozzarella Fresca, well, we wouldn’t really care about that one. But the difference is simple. Most buyouts are efforts to maximize profits and have about […]
Hain At It Again-Spectrum Latest Acquisition By Ever Hungry Irwin Simon
Hain At It Again-Spectrum Latest Acquisition By Ever Hungry Irwin Simon The ever acquisition hungry Hain Food Group, led by our industry’s own Little Caesar, Irwin Simon, is reported to have reached terms to purchase Petaluma, California based Spectrum Organic Products for approximately $34.5 million, or 70 cents a share, about 5% over Spectrum’s current […]
