Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Mueller's Pasta and Parent Company Accountability Request Letter

Dear Mueller's and America's Italian Pasta Company (AIPC),

I love Mueller's pasta because it tastes great and is high quality, but I was disappointed with www.muellerspasta.com and www.aipc.com.  First off the Muellers site does not link to AIPC anywhere so without searching off the site one does not know that AIPC is the parent company to Muellers.  The rest of the in consistencies are the following:

The AIPC website mentions as a company it values Empowerment with Accountability and Environmental Sustainability, but no information is available to the public via one of the most visited and assessable aspects of your company... the website.  

I cannot find any information on the company's sustainability practices for its food or packaging.  I would like to see this information and future plans for development of these practices and other values Mueller's may have provided on the Mueller's website.  Knowing where the food comes from, how the ingredients are grown, transportation and packaging reduction and sourcing, company energy use, etc is of value and important to my friends and me who do purchase your pasta.  Other than saying your boxes are 100% recyclable there is no other indication of valuing environmental sustainability that can be detected.  

Also other than the mention of Susan G. Komen and your work there I cannot find any information on Mueller's community citizenship and if it gives back to communities around it in any way.  All businesses should provide this information to give people a better look at what their money supports.  Businesses are not only about products and services, but about the values and impact they hold and create.

I respectfully request that this information become more available about your company.  It cannot only increase your visibility and transparency to consumers like me, but really allow you to market yourselves in a whole new way.  Hold yourself to a higher standard and be a leader as you state on the AIPC website "we provide much of the pasta consumed by the food service industry, including restaurants and cafeterias, schools, business and industry" you should understand that your company creates a large impact on our economy as well as food supply.  This information will not only be of value to us as consumers, but to you as a company to better understand your impact.

I write this not to be a burden to your company, but to embrace your value and mine, empowerment by accountability.  I am holding you accountable to your values by requesting that you support your claims with my witnesses of this request being your social media followers and the Internet. 

Respectfully yours,
Jonathan Brier