What Happened to Paul Newman’s Organic Food Line?
Since 1993, grocery shoppers have been buying organic cookies, pretzels, and more from a brand with an iconic face on the label — that of blue-eyed actor Paul Newman. Standing right by his side on the packaging for Newman’s Own Organics was his daughter Nell.
She was the person who convinced her father to launch the organic spin-off from his famous Newman’s Own line, which he founded in 1982 on a lark. But now, Nell’s likeness has disappeared, as has Newman’s Own Organics.
The Newman clan isn’t happy with these developments. The drama is detailed in an exhaustive report by Vanity Fair about the fate of Newman’s Own since the actor passed away.
So why was Nell removed from the label and her organic line folded? The answer is complicated. Newman’s Own Organics was established as a separate business from the main product line. As such, it had a licensing agreement to use the Newman name. When the license expired at the end of December, the product line was merged into Newman’s Own, which still exists, and Nell walked away — some say not entirely by choice.
An older bag of Newman’s Own Organics cookies features both Nell and her father. A newer version just features Paul.
Whether Paul Newman would have wanted it to happen this way is up for debate. According to the article, his family has been questioning decisions made by Robert Forrester, who was brought into the Newman’s Own fold as a business advisor several years before the actor died in 2008. Newman eventually left Forrester in charge of his foundation and food business. (All profits from Newman’s Own go into the Newman’s Own Foundation, which then funds various charities. To date, $430 million has been donated.)
“It was always the intention that Organics would someday be re-integrated into Newman’s Own when its license expired,” Forrester told Vanity Fair.
However, according to Vanity Fair, not everyone agrees that Newman would have wanted his daughter out of the business she created. His daughter Susan was interviewed for the article, although the rest of the family has maintained its silence for a variety of reasons. “I will not be muzzled any longer,” she told the magazine.
“Some family members may be angry at me for speaking out,” said Susan. “But I feel like the Newman family has been taken hostage by Bob Forrester. I think Mr. Forrester has forgotten that it is a privilege and enormous responsibility for him to preside over my father’s legacy and carry out his wishes. He seems to be more interested in self-aggrandizement and lavish trappings. My father would never support many of the things he is doing.”
Forrester, for his part, says he is following the late actor’s instructions. It’s a food fight that could determine the fate of a brand that’s done a lot of good—and kept alive the memory of one of America’s great actors.
More celebrity news from Yahoo Food:
Which fad diets are celebs on?
