Talk of the town

The buzz around here is all about Tom’s of Maine’s sale to Colgate. It is such a conundrum in the organic space and history is littered with disasters. Ben & Jery’s sale to Unilever is probably the worst. All the triple bottom line value was lost in the space of 6 months by Unilever. Same when The Body Shop listed. While Profit remained the focus, the People and the Planet fell by the way side. The only exception seems to be Stoneyfield Farms who have actually managed to change the way their acquirer – the biggest yogurt maker in the world, Groupe Danone – does business. I think Colgate is smart enough to know that their $100 milion actually bought more than just a range of products. Time will tell. Here’s another view. Be sure to read the trackbacks.