Anyone wanna come by, teach me how to bake yummy cinnamon raisin bread?

This is a photo of me when I was a Boulder boy. I grew up eating Rudi’s. I’m still a Boulder boy, and I still eat Rudi’s. I buy a loaf a week. I love the stuff. Toasted, fresh Cinnamon Raisin bread has been a part of the smell of my house for years. Then came yesterday’s announcement.

A Sad Day for Organics.

(And, more specifically, for organic Cinnamon Raisin Bread Lovers everywhere)

This is the only honest account of what just happened that you’ll read. All other “media” coverage I’ve read is simply parroting the Press Release…by Hain.

As the famous quote goes, “journalism pisses the powers that be off. Everything else is public relations.” It’s not my aim to piss off Hain. I don’t care. It’s my aim to tell the truth. But I can’t, because none has been made available.

I grew up with Rudi’s. I’m a Boulder boy. Sure, they’d been bought up already, but they’d kept their integrity, for the most part. I hope that continues to happen…after their selling out to big boy Hain, just announced yesterday.

Despite elephant being one of the largest (independent) media companies that focuses on green on this small planet, and even though we’re Boulder-based and go way back with Rudi’s, I can’t tell you much about this (because very little is being made public beyond careful, lawyer-vetted PR statements), but just read up on my favorite Rudi’s Bakery selling out to Hain.

Exhibit A:

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“As a company committed to driving product innovation, we plan to build upon Rudi’s leadership position and see the opportunity to take Rudi’s into other categories where the brand does not have products today,” Irwin D. Simon, president and chief executive officer of Hain Celestial, said in a statement.

“We have a proven ability to expand great brands and products into various channels of distribution including the conventional, mass and club channels where we see significant opportunities for increased distribution.”
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Every year, big organic & so-called “natural” companies continue to be bought up &, mostly, dumbed down. All about $$$.

Moral of the story: guess I’ll have to relearn to bake my own bread. Guess we’ll all have to refocus our food dollars on gardening, small organic and our local farmers market!

Keep it real.

PS: what else does Hain own?

Hain Celestial participates in many natural categories with well-known brands that include Celestial Seasonings®, Earth’s Best®, Ella’s Kitchen®, Terra®, Garden of Eatin’®, Sensible Portions®, Health Valley®, Arrowhead Mills®, MaraNatha®, SunSpire®, DeBoles®, Rudi’s Organic Bakery®, Gluten Free Café™, Hain Pure Foods®, Spectrum®, Spectrum Essentials®, Walnut Acres Organic®, Imagine®, Almond Dream®, Rice Dream®, Soy Dream®, WestSoy®, The Greek Gods®, BluePrint®, Yves Veggie Cuisine®, Europe’s Best®, Cully & Sully®, New Covent Garden Soup Co.®, Johnson’s Juice Co.®, Farmhouse Fare®, Hartley’s®, Sun-Pat®, Gale’s®, Robertson’s®, Frank Cooper’s®, Linda McCartney®, Lima®, Danival®, GG UniqueFiber®, Tilda®, Akash Basmati®, Abu Shmagh®, JASON®, Avalon Organics®, Alba Botanica® and Queen Helene®. Hain Celestial has been providing A Healthier Way of Life™ since 1993. For more information, visit www.hain.com.

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Relephant reading:

The difference between conventional bread formula & organic bread recipe. [Infographic]