Bolthouse Farms

Bolthouse Farms, founded 1915 in Grant, Michigan, is a vertically integrated farm company located in California's San Joaquin Valley and headquartered in Bakersfield, California. The company operates some facilities in Prosser, Washington, but shut down operations in Michigan in June 2010.

Private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners owned Bolthouse from 2005 to 2012. Bolthouse was bought by the Campbell Soup Company for US$1.55 billion in 2012.

Bolthouse sells a line of fresh juice beverages. According to the business research company, Bolthouse Farms is one of the United States' leading producers of carrots. Bolthouse is also a leading producer of super-premium refrigerated products.

Products

The company produces numerous refrigerated beverages, including six 100% juices, two lemonades, six smoothies, and three protein drinks. They also have a Bolthouse do Brasil section, which produces three açaí berry juices.

The beverages are available in four sizes, 1.54 liter (52 fl oz), 1 liter (33.8 fl oz) and 450 mL (15.2 fl oz). Their acai juices come in 340 mL (11.5 fl oz).

Juices

• 100% Carrot, 100% carrot juice.
• 50/50 Passion
• 50/50 Berry
• 100% Pomegranate
• Açai +10 Superblend
• Daily Greens
• Daily Golden VEDGE
• Daily Roots
• Mango Coconut Splash™
• Mango Ginger + Carrot
• Orange + Carrot
• Organic Carrot
• Tropical + Carrot
• Watermelon Mint Lemonade

Lemonades

• Mango Lemonade

Smoothies

• Amazing Mango is claimed to be rich in antioxidants, including selenium.
• Blue Goodness is claimed to be rich in antioxidants, fiber, vitamins C and E, and several B vitamins.
• Green Goodness is intended to have a large phytonutrient content (see green smoothie).
• Strawberry Banana
• Berry Boost is intended as a fruit-filled, vitamin-rich smoothie.
• C-Boost is intended as a vitamin-C-rich blend.
• Blue Banana Almondmilk is intended to be a dairy-free and fiber-bound smoothie.

Protein drinks

The large Perfectly Protein bottles are labeled as having 32 grams of protein; the smaller ones, as having 19 grams.

• Perfectly Protein Vanilla Chai Tea
• Perfectly Protein Mocha Cappuccino
• Perfectly Protein Hazelnut Latté
• Protein PLUS Chocolate Chocolate milk made with soy milk.
• Protein PLUS Vanilla Bean Blend of whey and casein protein.
• Protein PLUS Mango Blend of whey and soy protein.
• Protein PLUS Coffee Blend of whey and ground coffee.

Bom Dia antioxidant-rich juice

The açaí drinks are distributed in 340 mL (11.5 fl oz) bottles, which contain two servings of fruit, and in larger 1 L sizes. These bottles have a chart of the relative levels of antioxidants in several fruit, depicting açaí as having 472 ORAC units per gram of edible fruit, the second highest shown being cranberry, at 95.

• Açaí Berry with Pomegranate
• Açaí Berry with Mangosteen
• Açaí Berry with Blueberry

Bom Dia energy drinks

Bolthouse recently introduced two new energy drinks to the BomDia line; they both contain 75 mg caffeine per bottle.

• Transcend is made with green tea.
• Conquer is made with black tea.

Creamy yogurt dressings

Dressings made with yogurt.

• Chunky Blue Cheese
• Caesar Parmigiano
• Cilantro Avocado
• Thousand Island
• Honey Mustard
• Original Coleslaw
• Creamy Italian
• Sweet Poppy Seed

Olive oil vinaigrettes

Dressings made with extra virgin olive oil.

• Asian Ginger
• Chunky Blue Cheese
• Classic Balsamic
• Raspberry Merlot
• Tropical Mango

Relationship to the Bolthouse Foundation

The Bolthouse Foundation is a religious charity funding evangelical causes and takes an anti-evolution religious stance. Mr. and Mrs. William J. Bolthouse sold their interest in Wm. Bolthouse Farms in late 2005, and since then the Bolthouse Foundation has reflected their giving decisions exclusively. The Bolthouse Foundation is a separate entity from Bolthouse Farms, and all funding decisions by The Bolthouse Foundation are made solely by the Bolthouse Foundation. No members of The Bolthouse Foundation have a financial interest in Bolthouse Farms, and The Bolthouse Foundation receives neither financial support nor benefits from the profits of Bolthouse Farms.

The division of Bolthouse Farms and The Bolthouse Foundation became evident in October 2008 when an article in The Los Angeles Times announced that the boycott of Bolthouse Farms had ended. The advocacy group Californians Against Hate (CAH) had urged consumers not to support Bolthouse Farms. On October 9, 2008, CAH campaign manager Fred Karger issued a statement saying that the "Don't Buy Bolthouse" campaign had ended.

Health concerns

Carrot botulism outbreak

In September 2006, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered a recall of Bolthouse Farms "100 per cent Carrot Juice" and other Bolthouse Farms products because of several cases of botulism resulting from consumption of the products. On September 29, 2006, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that Georgia residents not purchase Bolthouse Farms carrot juice and warned consumers not to purchase Bolthouse Farms products stale-dated November 11, 2006, or earlier.

The warning and the recalls were due to reported cases of consumption of the beverages resulting in six cases of botulism in the United States and Canada. Two cases in Toronto, Canada resulted in paralysis; three cases recorded in Georgia, United States resulted in respiratory failure, with the patients requiring ventilators; one case recorded in Florida resulted in hospitalization. The patient in Florida was last reported to be unresponsive since mid-September 2006.

In response, Bolthouse Farms said the people may have failed to properly refrigerate the products. The US Food and Drug Administration has since ruled the Bolthouse Farms product as generally recognized as safe (GRAS). Bolthouse Farms has subsequently released an FAQ regarding the event.

External links

• Bolthouse Farms Official Website
• The Bolthouse Foundation