Colgate buys Tom’s of Maine.

Cadbury buys Green & Blacks (and a good thing they did too according to Craig Sams, the man behind Green & Blacks).

Ben & Jerry bought by Uniliver.

Pret a Manger partially bought by MacDonalds.

Rachel’s Organic bought by Dean Foods.

To most ethical consumers the most galling of all is the purchase by L’Oreal of the Bodyshop. Turns out that the Bodyshop happens to own a stake in Divine Fairtrade Chocolate. Nestle happen to own a stake in L’Oreal. Technically that now means that Nestle have a revenue connection to a Fairtrade chocolate company.

I spoke about these murky issues on my own blog recently and the ensuing debate is worth a read. For me the key questions are:

Can those relatively ungreen businesses keep those great green brands on the green path?

What happens when Big Business bites into the juicy green apple of ethical consumerism?

Is business inherently evil and incapable of participating in a sustainable economy?

Can a company like Nestle for example buy an ethical brand and still expect ethical consumers to consider that brand ethical?

Should we boycott these green takeovers or should we support them for their mainstream support and investment in the triple bottom line mentalities of these ethical pioneers?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Namaste

Al