The Siete Foods Buy Out - What It Means When Big Food Buys Up Health Brands

Is all hope lost when beloved natural foods' companies are bought out by Big Food? In today's episode of Blasphemous Nutrition, Aimee dives headfirst into the heated discussions from the natural health community, dissecting the nuanced implications of PepsiCo's buyout of Siete Foods and urging listeners to look beyond surface-level reactions. As she navigates through consumer fears and industry realities, Aimee brings her trademark candidness to the forefront, challenging black-and-white perceptions with well-articulated clarity.

Aimee elucidates how acquisitions by multinational food corporations have become a pattern in the industry, citing examples like General Mills acquiring Annie's Homegrown and Hormel's purchase of Applegate Farms. The episode reveals her skepticism about the true intentions of such behemoths, while also encouraging a broader perspective on potential benefits like improved distribution and stable product pricing. According to Aimee, the ultimate power rests with informed consumers – one who remains vigilant, continues to scrutinize labels, and leverages purchasing power to hold corporations accountable.

Key Takeaways:

• Siete Foods' acquisition by PepsiCo has sparked debate within the natural foods community, raising concerns over product quality and corporate ethics.
• Despite skepticism, there are potential benefits to the acquisition, including better distribution and stable pricing.
• Consumers are urged to maintain vigilance and exercise their power through informed purchasing choices.
• Aimee warns against demonizing families behind such businesses and advocates for understanding the complexities of such decisions.

Find Research Citations and Transcript at Blasphemous Nutrition on Substack

Work with Aimee

Photography by: Dai Ross Photography

Podcast Cover Art: Lilly Kate Creative

CHAT ME UP: let me know what's on your mind by texting here!

How to Leave a Review on Apple Podcasts
Via iOS Device
1. Open Apple Podcast App (purple app icon that says Podcasts).
2. Go to the icons at the bottom of the screen and choose “search”
3. Search for “Blasphemous Nutrition”
4. Click on the SHOW, not the episode.
5. Scroll all the way down to “Ratings and Reviews” section
6. Click on “Write a Review” (if you don’t see that option, click on “See All” first)
7. Rate the show on a five-star scale (5 is highest rating) and write a review!
8. Bask in the glow of doing a good deed that makes a difference!

Episode Transcript

MacBook Air Microphone (00:00):
Last month, the natural health
community was all flutter overthe announcement that Siete
foods will be selling to Pepsico for$1.2 billion.
While, many voices expressedoutrage in betrayal by this
purchase, as with all things thetruth is more nuanced.

(00:23):
What does it mean when a massivemultinational processed food
company buys up the little guy?
Tune in to find out.
Hey Rebels, welcome toBlasphemous Nutrition.
Consider this podcast yourpantry full of clarity,
perspective, and the nuanceneeded to counter the
superficial health advice sofreely given on the internet.

(00:45):
I'm Aimee, the unapologeticallycandid host of Blasphemous
Nutrition and a double degreednutritionist with 20 years
experience.
I'm here to share a more nuancedtake.
On living and eating well tosustain and recover your health.
If you've found most healthadvice to be so generic as to be
meaningless, We're so extremethat it's unrealistic, and you

(01:07):
don't mind the occasional Fbomb.
You've come to the right place.
From dissecting the latestnutrition trends to breaking
down published research andsharing my own clinical
experiences, I'm on a mission tofoster clarity amidst all the
confusion and empower you tohave the help you need to live a
life you love.
Now let's get started.

(01:32):
If you are a gluten-free or eat low
carb and prefer no additives.
Chances are you are familiarwith Siete foods for their
grain-free chips.
Almond flour tortillas.
And more recently, wickedlytasty Banuelos and Mexican
wedding cookies.
They've created the firstgluten-free natural flour

(01:54):
tortilla that did not tear apartwhen you tried to fold it.
And I will for one be forevergrateful to them for this.
This decision was met with a lotof hate amongst the natural
foods community, with manysaying they're no longer going
to purchase the product.
And there was a lot of feararound the quality of Siete

(02:14):
food's going to shit since Pepsiof all godforsaken companies was
buying them out.
Now It is not anywhere close tobeing the first natural foods
company to sell out to big food.
Most of the brands we arefamiliar with and love are
actually owned by bigger foodconglomerations, general mills

(02:38):
is now the owner of Annie'shomegrown Mac and cheese,
Larabars, Cascadia farm, muirGlen, rhythm superfoods, and
food should taste good.
The candy company, Mars MnMsowns seeds of change.
Applegate farms was bought outby Hormel and Tyson is actually

(02:59):
the owner of Aidell's sausagesas well as vans, natural foods.
Kellogg's owns RX bars, bearnaked brand, and Kashi cereals.
And it's not just food; Tom's ofMaine.
The toothpaste company isactually now part of Colgate and
Burt's bees sold out to Clorox.
In 2007.

(03:21):
Dave's killer bread, canyonBakehouse.
Gluten-free breads.
And that was bought out by thecompany that owns wonder bread
and tasty cakes.
And for your reference, thiscompany is called a perfectly
innocent sounding flower foods.
And these are just a couple, Imean, chances are a brand that
you love that is availablenationwide and is not a newcomer

(03:44):
to the scene is probably ownedby somebody much bigger with
somewhat questionableproclivities.
This is true of the supplementindustry as well with known and
much loved brands, such asMetagenics.
Pure Encapsulations and NewChapter being owned now by
Amway, Nestle, and Procter andgamble, respectively.

(04:09):
I mean every time I say that itkind of makes my stomach turn,
but that's the reality of thesituation.
So do I think all of the handringing and cries of protest are
warranted.
Not exactly.
I mean, don't get me wrong.
I do not trust these bigcompanies either.
So while I think.
They know, and we know that itis in their best interest, not

(04:34):
to dilute these products withingredients that the customer
base tends to avoid.
I also think it's justifiable tobe concerned about the quality
of their products or rather ofthe products that we like that
they've purchased.
Over the longterm.
When large companies with arecord of poor humanitarian and

(04:55):
quality business practices buysout a loved natural foods
company.
It is reasonable to be wary ofthe future of that product.
I mean, these companies clearlyrepeatedly, you only care about
the bottom line, but they knowthat the natural foods industry
is a legit moneymaker.

(05:16):
That is precisely why they arebuying up these small companies.
So it's really easy now to thinkof the Garza family who created
see it.
They foods as sellouts andassholes and greedy people who
ultimately only care about moneyover quality.
But the reality is we don't knowthe truth behind this sale.

(05:38):
Very very, very few of us.
know firsthand how hard it is tomake a quality.
Product based businesssuccessful in the first place.
Let alone.
Scale it so that it is anationally recognized brand in a

(05:59):
niche market.
The Garza family should becelebrated for this
accomplishment.
None of us have a fucking cluewhat it has cost to them in
terms of health, family life,relationships, and sanity.
None of us know if at the end ofthe day, the speed with which
they scaled, put them infinancial trouble that

(06:20):
threatened the very survival oftheir business.
None of us are privy to theaccountant books.
I for one would still rather beable to buy, Siete Buñuelos this
Christmas and the next then seethe company disappear forever
because they could not sustainthe success that they worked so
hard to achieve.

(06:42):
Given how much food costs haverisen since the pandemic.
I would not at all be surprisedif this played a part in their
decision to sell.
What Pepsi co can do that.
They may have been strugglingwith.
Is maintain this level of scaleand a more cost effective way to

(07:05):
stabilize, or maybe even lowerproduct prices in a time when
food prices are exploding.
Pepsi co also has the level ofdistribution that makes it
possible for Siete foods to showup in gas station, convenience
stores and other areas in a fooddesert where the people who live
there.

(07:26):
Have never had access to thiskind of quality.
In our outrage.
It is easy to forget that behindthe company we love is a family.
And behind the nasty assbehemoth that purchased them.
Is the ability to improve accessand affordability for all.

(07:49):
Will Pepsi taint the ingredientsand dilute the quality of the
brand.
My guess is that they'llprobably avoid doing this for as
long as possible.
Because it erodes the loyalcustomer base and threatens
their investment.
Shoppers are smarter and morecritical than ever.
And when it comes to naturalfood shoppers, we are also more

(08:12):
savvy at label reading thanmost.
They know this.
They're not going to go hackingaway at the quality unless they
feel they absolutely need tobecause ultimately it will
decrease their bottom line.
They will do other things toimprove the bottom line first,
such as streamlining production.
What is more likely to happen?

(08:34):
Is that employees of Siete willbegin being treated like easily
replaceable hardware.
And the workplace quality willerode.
Longtime employees will likelyleave and be replaced by random
people who have less of theirsoul invested in the product or
business.
This can all be done withoutdecreasing the quality of the

(08:55):
final product.
And it can also improve theprofit margin of the product as
well.
Now I say this without knowinganything about what it's like to
actually work for Pepsi co Ionly speak from the experience
of being part of a smallsuccessful business that was
purchased out by a company toobig to fail.

(09:17):
And what I hear from clients whoalso work for large, publicly
traded companies.
Maybe I'm wrong.
I'm totally willing to be wrong.
I would actually really love tobe wrong, but it's more likely
I'm correct.
In this regard, then it's likelythat Pepsi co is going to start
sneaking GMO corn starch into mycassava chips.

(09:39):
I'm really curious.
What do you all think aboutthis?
Did you even know that Sietefoods was being purchased?
By Pepsi co or perhaps thatTom's of Maine was owned by
Colgate.
Is this struggle betweenmaintaining the quality and
heart of a company, but alsomaintaining the viability of
that company something that's onyour radar.

(10:00):
It's definitely a complicatedtopic and it's one that I think
is too quickly reduced tosoundbites this versus that
black versus white arguments.
That don't really address thenuance and the reality.
Of the situation.
It also really necessitates thatwe, as consumers who do value

(10:24):
the quality of our product, stayon top of things, continue to
read labels, especially not justimmediately after a buyout like
this, but years down the road toensure that the quality is
there.
We as consumers have ourgreatest power to influence
companies through our dollarthrough our Euro, through our

(10:47):
pound.
It's what is in our wallet thatgets companies to change.
They know and understand.
That quality foods are importantto an ever increasing part of
the population.
We can take that and use that toour advantage by holding them
accountable and by utilizing ourwallet, whenever we can to make

(11:12):
the choices that we want to bemaking.
And I know for some of you thatmeans turning her back on, see
up there.
I get it.
I understand.
And I'm not going to really holdthat against you I just
encourage individuals who areupset about this.
To not necessarily demonize thefamily behind the product that
you care about and to understandthat while it is disappointing.

(11:35):
There may be some benefits downthe road that otherwise would
not have been realized.
That's all I've got in me today.
Folks.
Thank you so much for listeningto blasphemous nutrition.
If you liked what I had to saytoday, share it with a friend.
Also, please leave a reviewrate.
The podcast.
This helps blasphemous nutritionget in front of new eyeballs and

(12:00):
learn more about the nuanceunder nutrition and health that
is not being talked about onmost of the internet.
Until next time, my blasphemousbuddies.
If you have found some Nuggetsof Wisdom, make sure to
subscribe, rate, and shareBlasphemous Nutrition with those
you care about.

(12:20):
As you navigate the labyrinth ofhealth advice out there,
remember, health is a journey,not a dietary dictatorship.
Stay skeptical, stay daring, andchallenge the norms that no
longer serve you.
If you've got burning questionsor want to share your own flavor
of rebellion, slide into my DMs.

(12:41):
Your stories fuel me, and I lovehearing them.
Thanks again for tuning in toBlasphemous Nutrition.
Until next time, this is Aimeesigning off, reminding you that
truth is nuanced, and any dishcan be made better with a little
bit of sass.