POM Wonderful

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POM Wonderful, LLC

Type	Privately held company
Founded	Unknown
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California, United States of America
Key people	Lynda and Stewart Resnick; Matthew Tupper (President)
Industry	Foods
Products	Fruit juices, tea
Website	www.pomwonderful.com
A Bottle of POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice

POM Wonderful, LLC is a privately owned company and brand of pomegranate juice, advertised as one of the most powerful naturally-occurring antioxidants. It is sold in distinctive double bulb-shaped clear plastic bottles. Its taste has been described as similar to cranberry juice. The company was founded by Lynda and Stewart Resnick of the Roll International Corporation, and released its products in 2002.

POM Wonderful is made from the "Wonderful" variety of pomegranate, which is grown on between 6,000 and 12,000 acres of orchards in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California.[1] The variety has a particularly sweet flavor in comparison with other varieties. The company's products include bottled pomegranate juice and juice blends (pomegranate juice blended with either blueberry, cherry, mango, or tangerine) in various sizes, as well as fresh pomegranates (which are available only when in season). The company also sells bottled tea infused with antioxidants derived from pomegranates. In an effort to further expand the popularity of its products, the company has also hired a mixologist to create a pomegranate martini (Abelson 2006).

POM Wonderful is owned by the Roll International Corporation of Los Angeles, California, which also owns Teleflora and FIJI Water, and owned the Franklin Mint until 2006. Although POM wonderful does not disclose its profits, Newsweek magazine reported annual sales of its juice have risen from $12 million in 2003 to $91 million in 2006.[2]

[edit] Animal testing controversy

The company has received some negative publicity due to its use of animal testing; it has spent over US$10 million (a nearly unprecedented amount for the food industry) to fund such research, purportedly to prove the healthful qualities of pomegranates.[3] POM Wonderful remained steadfast and even brought suit against animal rights activists who protest their actions.[4] The animal rights group PETA, in conjunction with Pamela Anderson, sponsored a campaign against the company for its use of animal testing.[5]

On January 17, 2007, Stewart and Lynda Resnick announced in a letter[6] to POM Wonderful retailers that POM Wonderful would cease all animal testing, after distributor Whole Foods Market threatened to withdraw the product from its shelves.[7] At the time the company did not announce whether it would also cease making health claims for its products based on animal research it had already funded (including an experiment scheduled to continue through June 30, 2007), and the Resnicks would not state whether they would rule out shifting the funding of future animal testing to the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Trust or another entity they control.[8] In late January, 2007, PETA announced the end of its campaign against POM Wonderful when the company provided final assurances that none of its affiliates would fund animal testing either.[9] As of March 2007, POM Wonderful's official website continues to cite numerous animal studies as evidence of the healthfulness of pomegranates.[10]

[edit] References

Abelson, Jenn. "Pomegranate Sows Seeds of Popularity." The Boston Globe, December 10, 2006, Metro section, p. A1.
Garrison, Jessica. "Activists Target Juice Company." Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2006, Metro section, Part B, p. 6.
Mozingo, Joe. "Santa Monica and FBI Target Animal Activists." Los Angeles Times, November 3, 2006. Metro section, Part B, p. 4.