Saturday, April 28, 2012

Kashi fights bad PR

This has not been a good week for Kashi, the Kellogg-owned cereal company that works off its natural foods branding. Controversy hit a peak as claims by the Cornucopia Institute, fueled by social media, made claims that genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) were found in some of its products. Kashi, of course, responded (including an online video) refuting the claims, followed by counter-claims, and so on.

No company wants this type of publicity, as truth often gets lost in the midst of the debating. Certainly, companies like Kashi that make "natural" claims have a high reputation to live up to, and deserve criticism if they don't walk the talk. On the other hand, based on the comments I've read online, it also seems like natural food fans are just plain suspicious of any natural food companies that is successful and ends up part of a large corporate empire like Kellogg.

The vast majority of consumers will likely never even hear about this controversy, and eventually it will likely die down. But, Kashi also can't alienate some of its most passionate consumers who are looking for the purest possible foods.

(Source: Huffington Post)