Tom's of Maine built trust on natural toothpaste, refillable bottles, and Maine-made ethics. Then Colgate-Palmolive bought 84% of the company for about $100 million. Here's what changed, what didn't, and what the marketing leaves out.
Exposes
Ben & Jerry's built trust on Vermont roots and a social mission. Unilever bought it in 2000 for about $326 million. Today it sits inside The Magnum Ice Cream Company.
Bear Naked started as a small Connecticut granola company. Kellogg bought it through Kashi in 2007, closed its local operations, and Ferrero now owns WK Kellogg Co.
Kashi began as a La Jolla natural-foods company. Kellogg bought it in 2000, pushed it into the mainstream, and later settled over natural-label claims.
Naked Juice built trust with fruit-forward smoothies and natural-food-store credibility. PepsiCo bought it in 2007. The ownership changed, and the labeling battles followed.
Talenti built its name on Old World gelato, clear jars, and carefully sourced ingredients. Unilever bought it in 2014. The founder story stayed. The ownership changed.
Sir Kensington's built its name by challenging Big Ketchup with better ingredients and a fictional aristocrat. Unilever bought it in 2017. Then the flagship ketchup disappeared.
Annie's built trust with organic mac and cheese, a founder story, and Bernie the bunny. General Mills bought it for $820 million in 2014. Here's what changed, what didn't, and where to look instead.
Burt's Bees built trust on beeswax, back-to-the-land simplicity, and natural personal care. Then Clorox bought it for $925 million. Here's what changed, what didn't, and what the marketing leaves out.
Garden of Life built a reputation as the gold standard in whole-food supplements. Then Nestlé bought them for $2.3 billion. The distribution changed, the lawsuits started, and the founder left years ago.
A company named for an Indigenous principle about protecting future generations sold itself to one of the world's top plastic polluters. The price was $700 million.
Native built its brand on the promise of simple, clean ingredients and independence from Big Beauty. Then P&G wrote a $100 million check.