r/Anticonsumption • u/RainyDay905 • 20d ago

Corporations Time to ditch Poppi

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Poppi is now owned by a mega corporation. The quality is probably going to go down. Time to ditch it.

9.8k Upvotes

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191

u/oakleafwellness 20d ago

Ugh! Why does almost every company I love sell out to the mega corporations. I used to love Seventh Generation and a few others that sold.

I mean I get it, the companies want to make money..it just stinks for those of us who prefer to buy small. 

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u/fakeaccount572 20d ago

And Bubli

And Burts Bees.

And ..

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u/CelebrationMassive87 20d ago

Wait Burt’s bees..?!

noooooo

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u/lunarpanino 20d ago

Burt’s is owned by Clorox but they try not to advertise that

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

It was nearly 20 years ago

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u/maskedtityra 20d ago

Because late stage capitalism is about monopolies, not small grassroots mom and pop shops.

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u/BardicHesitation 20d ago

I'm married to someone who works for a 'startup' food company. When she was hired, she was offered a good amount of equity to offset the smaller salary/title they could offer. She's worked her butt off, travels almost non-stop, and we've had to sacrifice a lot as a family. But a similar purchase (or going public) is life altering money for us.

While big brands almost always cannibalize smaller brands they purchase and then find ways to slash quality or costs, going public creates the need to consistently stock-watch which also may lead to the same thing, albeit further down the line. In both cases, most of the time it's not immediately a brand tank, but the rent always comes due. It's the curse of capitalism.

But the 'why' is because most employees in these smaller brands have a financial incentive to sell out, especially the higher up you go. I really like my wife's company and believe in them as a brand, but I won't shed a tear when it happens to them, because we'll take the payout and appreciate the financial security it'll bring.

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u/Ambitious_Wolf2539 20d ago

you've nailed it. Virtually every person complaining on this thread hasn't lived on the other side of the equation.

It's a grueling process, and at some point, many people just want to be done and move on with their lives and live (very) richly.

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u/BardicHesitation 20d ago

Exactly. In my wife's case, she took a risk joining this company, and has absolutely had a huge hand in their growth. Even if she wanted to stay forever, that equity represents weeks away from home, long nights working, time spent away from our baby. It represents me not leaving a company I wanted to leave in order to keep our finances stable, choosing roles that minimized travel in order to have someone at home for the baby, and giving up a lot of time with my wife.

Ownership in a company makes employees more motivated to work hard and to sacrifice because there is a payout on the horizon, which while it won't lead to us hanging out with Bill Gates, that would still be life changing.

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u/iceoldtea 20d ago

Let alone (as others have pointed out) that the mega-brands will just release a competing product if they can’t buy you out cough cough look there’s an Amazon essential!

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u/Umbrellac0rp 20d ago

As long as money remains the currency to the best things in life people will do whatever they can to get it. I think supporting small businesses is great, but just keeping in mind they have their own plans. If their quality goes down for selling out, I don't support, otherwise it's the nature of the beast.

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u/Opening_Acadia1843 20d ago

I miss the days before Halo Top sold out

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u/AX2021 20d ago

So 7th generation isn’t small anymore?

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

Unilever owns them.

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u/AX2021 20d ago

Yup just looked it up bought for 700 million in 2016.

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u/getoffurhihorse 20d ago

Tbf, who is gonna turn that down? I'm an activist/advocate and if someone said here's 700 mil Id be like here ya go.

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u/gordof53 20d ago

Go TRY to start a company and you'll quickly see why some places start then sell. 

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u/Green-Collection4444 20d ago

This sentiment here is fucking hilarious. "Why did they do this?? Buying from a small business makes me feel good about myself!" Good for them, and hopefully they do good things with their billions. Philanthropy doesn't exist without capital, and small businesses don't have the capital to be philanthropic.

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u/LogicJunkie2000 20d ago

At least they don't have the capital to buy politicians either 

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u/goin-up-the-country 20d ago

every company I love

Stop loving companies