Bear Naked

CompanyKellogg
Company TypePublic Corporation
Rating
Organic StatusGranola products are not certified organic
Websitewww.bearnaked.com
Total Score10

Bear Naked, like Kashi, is owned by Kellogg, the largest breakfast cereal maker and one of the largest food corporations in the country, with more than 31,000 employees and annual sales of $12 billion.

Bear Naked was founded, like many other granola companies, by young entrepeneurs with a successful granola recipe and a home kitchen. Bear Naked never was organic, but Kellogg markets the brand as “100% pure and natural” despite no policy against the use of toxic pesticides, hexane, and genetically engineered ingredients.

The Bear Naked website’s “about us” story is long and detailed, yet fails to mention the acquisition by Kellogg in 2007. In fact, the name “Kellogg” appears nowhere on Bear Naked packages or the Bear Naked website.

The Bear Naked brand still relies heavily on its image as an up-and-coming start-up by two young entrepreneurs, actively hiding from customers that it became a Kellogg’s brand when the two co-founders sold the brand to the multinational corporation for $60 million in 2007.

CriteriaPoints
TOTAL (possible score is 700) 10
Percentage of the brand’s product line that is certified organic.
Organic Status of Cereal/Granola by Brand
0
Percentage of the parent company’s products that are certified organic.
Organic Commitment by Corporate Owner
5
Brand’s commitment to ensuring all cereals are non-GMO.
GMO Policy (By Brand, in Cereal/Granola)
0
Parent company’s commitment to ensuring all of its products are non-GMO.
GMO Policy by Corporate Owner
0
Brand’s commitment to ensuring that hexane is not present in its cereal and granola products.
Hexane (in cereal/granola products)
0
Brand’s commitment to ensuring that harmful synthetic agrichemicals where not used in the production of their cereal and granola products.
Agrichemical Use (by Brand, in Cereal/Granola Products)
0
Parent company’s commitment to ensuring that harmful synthetic agrichemicals where not used in the production of any of their products.
Agrichemical Use (by Corporate Owner)
5