[Click here to print and sign the proxy letter (PDF).]
Recently, France’s Groupe Danone announced their intent to purchase WhiteWave Foods in a deal representing a total enterprise value of approximately $12.5 billion.
If this deal goes through, Danone (known as the Dannon Company in the U.S.) will have combined annual sales of close to $30 billion and will control the Stonyfield, Horizon, and Wallaby organic dairy brands and have a substantial interest in Lifeway Foods, a manufacturer of organic kefir.
This type of market concentration, and the resulting potential for eroding profit margins by processors/marketing competitors, could very well put downward pressure on farm gate organic milk prices. The consolidation of brands could also significantly reduce competition impacting prices for consumers and potentially impacting quality and choice.
Please print and sign the proxy to federal regulators scrutinizing this proposed merger, and return it to us:
The Cornucopia Institute
PO Box 126
Cornucopia, WI 54827
We will hand-deliver the proxies to the Department of Justice in Washington, so that the voice of the organic dairy community, and their customers, can be heard!
Read the press release for more details on the merger.
