The Background

Strolling the aisles of Costco or your favorite grocery store just got more complicated (if you care about the ingredient list). Small brands with compelling stories have been the recent target of large corporations looking to grab more market shares in the health conscious consumer.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to us as brand consolidation (and concerns about food chain supply and distribution monopoly continues to loom large). Let’s not forget that Amazon acquired Whole Foods back in 2017 for $13.7 billion and the FTC blocked Kroger’s $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons in 2024.

The growing problem we have in the U.S. food supply chain is not just about brand consolidation though, it’s about our ability, as consumers, to continue to rely on the brands we have come to know and trust. This has become increasingly challenging as big corporations compete for small, health food and “green” cleaning brands and then do what everyone expects of large corporations, undermine quality to increase profit margins.

The Sell Out Skinny: Who, What and How Much

This is only a snapshot of the various brands over the last ~10 years to be acquired by large corporations.

The Ingredient Changes and Consumer Dissatisfaction

Siete Foods (Mexican-American products) recently came under scrutiny post-acquisition after their grain free almond flour tortillas appeared in Costco with a substantially longer ingredient list with annotations that these ingredients are included to preserve freshness. Their grain free tortilla chips have also been flagged because the cassava flour ingredient now lists cassava starch, which is derived from two different parts of the plant. Cassava flour is more nutrient dense and used as a traditional flour replacement, whereas Cassava starch has a more jelly-like finish and is used more appropriately as a thickener in soups and gravies.

Epic Provisions (a beef jerky) has made several changes to their snack bar ingredients. Specifically their Beef Sea Salt + Pepper Bar which now contains encapsulated lactic acid (which often contains seed oils), celery powder and other preservatives. Reviews on their website indicate people are now also experiencing allergic reactions to the bar when they previously had none. It’s also been noted their venison bar has shifted to a higher fat content and slightly reduced protein content, which may be helping to reduce ingredient cost.

Many other brands are suspected of changing their ingredients (or formulas for beauty and cleaning products) based on long-time consumers reporting changes in taste, smell, or body response, but it can be difficult to prove with tricky food labeling and proprietary ingredient catchalls.

The consensus?

People are not happy.

Many of these acquisitions make a brief appearance (if any at all) in our headlines with many consumers unaware - unless and until influencers sound the alarm. Whether the information disseminated by those influencers is factually accurate is another thing, but one thing remains the same: health-conscious consumers are growing skeptical about our food supply and many have decided to boycott brands that aren’t transparent about sudden changes or failure to meet expected standards (see: Dave’s Killer Bread contains glyphosate).

Lessons About Client Trust and Preserving Brand Values

While it’s disheartening to read about the loss of small, trusted brands, there’s an important lesson to be learned here for both sellers and buyers alike.

For starters, don’t change a good thing. Whether you’re selling products or services, if you have a loyal client or customer base, any changes should either be floated past your clients or customers before implementation or at least included in some form of announcement (whether by email or verbally when working directly together).

Loyalty and trust go hand-in-hand. The process of getting your oil changed is a good example. If you take your car in and feel like you’ve been lied to about the necessity of certain services or repairs, likelihood of you returning to said oil change place is likely low if not non-existent.

We see this all the time in professional service based businesses (like accounting and medical practices). Clients and patients come to expect a certain process; certain people they interact with along the way; software platforms and booking procedures they’ve come to know and can rely on, etc.

When a buyer steps in often the first thing they do want to do is make changes. They see areas for improved operations, savings by way of software changes, and perhaps even improved human capital outcomes by firing and re-hiring for certain roles. These are all things the seller fears and despises.

Two ways to bridge this gap:

(1) As a seller, communicate early and often about how you want your legacy preserved with existing customers or clients. Spend the time to create a detailed set of SOPs to help guide the new owner through your current system and processes. Be willing to commit to a transition period where you allow the new owner to shadow you to afford a smoother ownership transition and allow current customers/clients time to get to know the new owner while you’re still present in the business.

(2) As a buyer, learn the business first before making any changes. When you do decide to make changes, make them slowly one at a time over the course of months (or the first couple of years). Client attrition is inevitable, but it can be mitigated. Don’t give your recently acquired client base (and the source of your revenue) a reason to jump ship and look for a new provider.

We are proud to announce that Nocturnal Legal celebrated it’s 4th anniversary at the start of April. We have met so many inspiring and driven clients over these past four years. It has been an absolute honor to play a small, but significant role in helping you strengthen your foundation, expand through acquisitions, and sell the empires you have built through hard work and determination. We look forward to continuing to work with you closely as a trust team member to support your ongoing journeys.

From you, we have learned:

Celebrated Another Year Around the Sun

In March, Jordan and I drove up to Zion National Park to celebrate my birthday. We hiked Observation Point, which allows you to look down on Angel’s Landing (a cool new perspective). We also checked off one of my bucket list items when we completed a Via Ferrata just outside of Kanab, UT. See pictures below.

Chesney Competed with Her Horse Radar

Our paralegal, Chesney Reeves, has recently been competing at reined cow horse competitions in Scottsdale, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada. She competes in the amateur classes and is judged on the execution of maneuvers such as sliding stops, spins, and even how well she and her horse can control a cow in the arena! See pictures below.

Our neighborhood recently held a stargazing night where local astronomers set up their high powered telescopes to look into the night sky. As you know, I am a big fan of astronomy and wasn’t one to miss out on the opportunity.

That night we learned that the Big Dipper handle has three main stars: Alkaid, Mizar and Alioth. Mizar (the middle of the three stars) is actually a binary star (two stars orbiting each other) and they each have an additional orbiting star meaning that Mizar is actually comprised of 4 stars! When the sky is dark enough (look at new moon), you will see Mizar’s tiny companion star with the naked eye: Alcor.