Annie’s Homegrown (General Mills)

Rating
Farm/Brand Headquarters	Berkeley, CA
Products	Cheese, packaged goods (pasta), canned meals, yogurt
Website	www.annies.com
Market Area	Nationwide
Total Score	1305

Annie’s, Inc. is a natural and organic food brand offering great-tasting products in large packaged food categories. Annie’s products are made without artificial flavors, synthetic colors and preservatives common in many conventional packaged foods. Additionally, Annie’s sources ingredients so as to avoid synthetic growth hormones and genetically modified food ingredients. Today, Annie’s offers over 300 products and is present in over 70,000 retail locations in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1989, Annie’s is committed to operating in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner. Annie’s is a proud member of the natural and organic portfolio of General Mills. For more information, visit www.annies.com.

Criteria	Points	Comment
TOTAL (possible score is 1600 plus extra credit)	1305	4-Cow Rating | Excellent
Farmstead dairies earn the most points. Corporations that have a history of skirting the organic rules receive the fewest. Ownership structure	70	Corporation with a good track record of transparency
Farms that produce 100% of their milk receive the most points. Milk from "open market" or known confinement dairies receive the fewest. Milk Supply	90	Sourced from trusted dairy cooperative
100% organic farms receive the most points. Split operations with conventional dairy on the same property receive the fewest. Organic Production	90	All of Annie's yogurt products are certified organic; they also sell natural foods. Suppliers do not have split dairies.
Farms that completed the survey in detail received the most points. Disclosure of Information for Verification	100	Full disclosure
Points determined by integrity of the brand’s organic certifier. Organic Certification	75	Quality Assurance International (QAI)
Animal Welfare Approved and Biodynamic certifications receive the most bonus points. Producers are not penalized for not having additional certifications beyond organic. Other Labels/Standards	0	None
100% grass-fed with independent verification of standards Grass-fed	50	Exceeds USDA minimum percent intake requirements
No points are given for this but the information may be useful to certain consumers looking to avoid soy. Soy Free Ration?		No - soy is likely including in ration
Sliding scale based on policies, enforcement, acreage/cow, days/year on pasture, and permissible exemption. Pasture	70	Most supplier farms do some more-than-average grazing
One time/day receives the most points. Two times per day is standard. Times Milked	90	Most daries milk twice a day (standard organic practice)
Lower cull rate scores better, with under 10% receiving the most points. Cull/death Rate	75	Moderate cull/death rate. Will vary widely between farms.
Farms with closed herds receive the most points. Farms that sell organic calves and buy conventional replacements receive the fewest. Replacements	100	Closed herds
Standard practice is removing calves shortly after birth, with extra points given for unique ways of managing calves Calves	75	Removed shortly after birth (standard practice)
Farms that prohibit antibiotics receive the most points. Farms that allow young stock to receive antibiotics (under one year), receive the fewest. Antibiotic Use	100	No antibiotic use
No hormones is the standard, however some farms do use oxytocin for therapeutic purposes. Hormone Usage	100	No hormone use
Farmstead dairies (owner lives on-site) receive the most points. Fewer points are given as oversight declines. Farm Support	80	Depends on trusted third-party for supervision; All larger farms are visited more frequently; most farms visited annually
All ingredients sourced from inside the organization or on the farm receives the highest points. Ingredients from confinement factory farms and/or imported ingredients receive the fewest. Procurement of Ingredients	90	Outside ingredients from trusted sources
Various levels of extra credit given for 1) providing full organic systems plan, 2) providing details on all farms (multi-farm brands, details on largest five required), and 3) sourcing feed on-farm or domestically. Extra Credit	50	With respect to the concern of fraudulent grain imports, this brand gets all of their feed from “open source” certified organic feed but were transparent enough to share that detail with us.