Dave - Thanks for the added info. Truthfully, I always buy Heinen's skim milk for us, but for my daughter switch between Horizon and Hartzler (agree - best eggnog, did an interview w/ them last month all about it). I'm glad you guys have left these comments because it's all new info to me and something I'm now looking into. Thanks!

Michelle,

I've heard awful things about Horizon as well. From what I understand they are a big factory farm that skirts by the minimum USDA organic standards (and probably less). They spend a lot of money on lawyers and lobbyists to keep them clean. If you are deadset on organic, the only organic brand I recommend is Organic Valley. Organic Valley buys their mil from a co-op of small dairy farmers. Their milk tastes better and is better for you. If you are open to brands that are not officially USDA certified but that follow organic standards I highly recommend Hartzler's and Snowville Creamery. As you may know, Hartzler's is a small family farm in the Wooster area and Snowville Creamery is a small farm out of southern Ohio. Snowville is my favorite and what I always buy. It is readily available at Heinen's. By the way, if you like egg nog, you HAVE TO try Hartzler's next Christmas time. It is the best ever.

Dave

Jack - thanks for sharing. That's the first I've heard of anything along those lines. I give my daughter whole milk form Horizon, though lately I've also been buying Hartzler.

For what is wrong with Horizon, check out the Organic Consumers Association website. Horizon was a good company - until Dean Foods bought it. Horizon is now the poster child for green-washing. The only thing Deans kept the same is the folksy cow. Their cows are not treated well, as they are confined in filth. Just google "organic consumers association horizon". By the way, OCA is an outstanding organization for figuring out which companies are actually organic.

Before Blackbird, we'd travel 45 minutes from Avon Lake to get On the Rise. I really can't tell a difference between the two now. They are both top notch. The person from Orlando that contacted me was Lesley.

Dave: Did Michelle at Orlando contact you? Just curious, she's a very good/ long-time friend of my family. I like Orlando, too. My mom grew up next door to the family and I guess one of the brothers used to always ask her out. I always tease her that we could have been Orlandos! I love OTR too. I really have been happy with the new bread at Heinen's, but really can't compare. If near OTR, I can never resist. But if doing shopping already, I usually pick this up. I do really need to try Blackbird as well.

While I don't think it's as good as Blackbird or On the Rise, I too like Heinen's new bread. I was also recently asked to review some of Orlando Bread Companies offerings. I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality, not to mention that Orlando is a long time Cleveland company.

Emil you may not always read a review in its entirety, but if you read more than the first paragraph you would've seen that Michelle disclosed Heinen's as an advertiser of the blog.

Hi Emil,

First, thank you for reading, much appreciated! And thanks for taking the time to share your comments. The second part of your comment first. I can't speak for them, but have you tried sharing this with your local store? I know Miles carries some items that I wish Heinen's did, and one day at the store one of the workers told me they would try to get it for me, but I never took him up on it. But I do know that they now carry Bell & Evans and the one guy in the meat dept told me it's because many customers were asking (like me!). So it's good to share your thoughts and concerns, you never know!

As for the first part of your comment, I believe in 100% transparency, always have. Anytime something is sponsored or if I've been out and treated to a dish, I say so. Perhaps you missed the post, but awhile back I did say that Heinen's is one of my advertisers and they are sponsoring content (from chef recipes, to Q&As, some entertaining posts as well as me reviewing some of their items). This isn't a secret and I've been very honest from the beginning about the relationship. I've also been honest, with both my readers and Heinen's, that just because you're an advertiser, doesn't mean I will not be truthful in my thoughts. I will always share my honest feedback. Always. I have had a few people e-mail me and say they wish I didn't accept advertisers, and while I don't necessarily feel the need to justify all that I do, I will say that I don't think there's anything wrong with advertisers on CF. I am very select about who I work with and have turned down companies because they aren't local or are chains. And further, much of this dining out is on our dime. Having advertisers helps offset some of the cost and allows me to go to more places and share more with you. Plus, I now have 1 13-month-old, and she's expensive! (i'm kidding, sorta :) So, I hope that helps address some of your concerns. But rest assured, I do state in the post if something is sponsored, it does not affect my opinion one bit even if it weren't, and I did acknowledge this relationship at the beginning.

By the way, what did you mean about Horizon? I but a lot of Horizon products and that has my interest. I'm actually trying to buy much more organic these days. What are some of your other favorite items?

Michelle -

Thank you for posting this - I love the new Heinen's artisnal bread! I used to buy the La Brea bread out of necessity but hated that it full of lots ingredients I couldn't pronounce - I'm sure mostly preservatives since it was shipped. Unless Heinens is holding back on their ingredients list (which I highly doubt); their bread is "cleaner" and you can tell. I do agree with Emil in that I wish Heinen's provided more information on their private labels.

OK, two things.
First: The disclosure that this is a paid blog entry should be clear and conspicuous. A small disclaimer at the end of a post is not conspicuous. It does not inform the consumer until after they have given their time. And let’s face it – most people don’t read articles to the end. The word “Advertisement” in the entry title or “This is a paid entry.” as the first sentence is needed. It is my belief that you do yourself (and your readers) a disservice by not fully disclosing up front. As a daily reader of your blog, I wonder “What other posts did I read, but not finish, that were actually ads?” If most of your posts are paid, then this is not a problem. If that is not the case, then you are doing yourself a disservice.
Second: I love Heinen’s, although a bit less these days. We spend about $250/week there. They are slowly taking away my national organic brands – that did have voluntary country of origin labeling on them, and replacing them with Heinen’s store brands, which are never labeled. My wife and I recently lamented the loss of the La Brea bread that Heinen’s used to carry. They had many different organic choices – more so than they do now after dropping in favor of the brand you are selling. Unrelated, but another example of this, is Heinen’s dropping Organic Valley dairy products. No more sour cream for me, at least not without taking a trip to the Mustard Seed. If only Deans (err...Horizon) dairy was actually organic and not just labeled that way. Each week we are spending less money there – and I have to think that two people who spend $250 a week there must be a customer they want to keep.