The company says the change is the result of “talking with our
customers,” and finding that “it is clear … that if given the
opportunity, the majority of our customers would prefer to have
products made without genetically engineered ingredients.”
“This announcement marks the first time a mainstream grocery
chain has dropped genetically engineered ingredients in response to
consumer demand,” said Heather Whitehead of the Greenpeace Genetic
Engineering Campaign. “By responding to its customers, Trader Joe’s
has set an industry standard and has helped put other mainstream
retailers on notice.”
During an exit strategy discussion with a Greenpeace
representative, a Trader Joe’s spokesperson acknowledged that 90 to
95 percent of customers said they wanted the chain to stop using
genetically engineered ingredients.
Trader Joe’s has almost 200 stores in 15 states located
primarily on the East and West Coasts. The company sells mainly its
own brand products and a good selection of organic and natural
foods. Its two main competitors are Safeway and Whole Foods. Whole
Foods has already gone non-GE in its store brand products.
“Greenpeace will be looking at other retailers still using
genetically engineered foods to determine where to apply pressure
next,” added Whitehead. “With Trader Joe’s getting rid of
gene-altered ingredients, grocery chains in the U.S. can no longer
say, ‘We can’t do it in this country.'”
Greenpeace, along with several grassroots groups that formed the
GE-Free Market Coalition, have focused attention on Trader Joe’s
for the past year. The coalition includes GE-Free L.A, Organic
Consumers Association, GE-Free Marin, NW RAGE, BAN NY, Genetic
Engineering Action Network, GeneWise (Chicago), and the Boston Safe
Foods Campaign. Thousands of consumers around the country have
participated in the effort by sending faxes, e-mails and letters to
the company, and by protesting outside Trader Joe’s stores in over
20 cities.
