Organic Valley

producer cooperative

Organic Valley

Industry Food

A farmer-owned organic dairy and food cooperative that gives producers formal control, with agriculture, labor, and animal-product concerns still relevant. Organic Valley scores well because ownership is comparatively aligned and governance has stronger accountability than peers, though toxic or materially harmful products still limit the evaluation.

Why this matters: Producer ownership constrains investor power while leaving worker sovereignty questions distinct.

Letter grade B Qualified Medium confidence (AI) Rubric gcd-rubric-v1

Final Score 47* B - Qualified
BQUALIFIED47 tentative score pts

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

Base Material48
Bonus+0
Cap66No structure cap
After Cap48
Penalties-1
!Not Verified
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Evaluation Overview

B - Qualified

The score turns mainly on Ownership, with the largest penalty coming from Toxic Products.

Strengths

  • Ownership7/10
  • Governance7/10
  • Extraction7/10

Penalties

  • Toxic Products-1

Evidence state

  • ConfidenceMedium confidence (AI)
  • ThoroughnessPartial (AI)
  • Linked claims10
  • Direct axis claims10
  • Coverage10/10

Scoring Axes
Axis Score Why this score
Ownership
?
Control rights: shareholder-dominated at 0, worker cooperative control at 10.
7 / 10

The linked record identifies Organic Valley as a farmer-owned cooperative.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 146 scored entries below, 21 tied, 59 above on Ownership.

Linked evidence
  • Organic Valley describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1]
Governance
?
Binding decision authority: centralized control at 0, democratic stakeholder control at 10.
7 / 10

Organic Valley presents itself as a cooperative of organic family farms, making farmer-owner participation central to the enterprise structure.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 163 scored entries below, 28 tied, 35 above on Governance.

Linked evidence
  • context Organic Valley describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1]
  • context Organic Valley's public model centers certified organic family farms and cooperative marketing. [2]
  • Organic Valley presents itself as a cooperative of organic family farms, making farmer-owner participation central to the enterprise structure. [3]
Extraction
?
Surplus allocation, wage share, CEO pay ratio, margins, and structured extraction judgment.
7 / 10

The linked record identifies Organic Valley as a farmer-owned cooperative.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 140 scored entries below, 32 tied, 54 above on Extraction.

Linked evidence
  • context Organic Valley describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1]
  • context Organic Valley's public model centers certified organic family farms and cooperative marketing. [2]
  • Organic Valley describes itself as a cooperative owned and run by family farmers, which routes more enterprise benefit toward producers than a conventional investor-owned food processor. [4]
Labor Sovereignty
?
Worker power: coercive conditions at 0, co-determination or ownership at 7. Employee dissatisfaction matters only when source-backed evidence shows concrete limits on worker agency, such as coercive scheduling, retaliation, wage theft, harassment, unsafe conditions, suppression of worker voice, or extreme turnover.
4 / 7

The linked record identifies Organic Valley as a farmer-owned cooperative.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 112 scored entries below, 39 tied, 75 above on Labor Sovereignty.

Linked evidence
  • context Organic Valley describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1]
  • context Organic Valley's public model centers certified organic family farms and cooperative marketing. [2]
  • Organic Valley says the cooperative is owned and run by family farmers, giving producer-members meaningful agency while leaving hired-farm and processing labor less directly governed by the cooperative form. [5]
Solidarity with the Unemployed
?
Treatment of exits and nonworkers, including severance, redeployment, and non-competes.
5 / 7

The linked record identifies Organic Valley as a farmer-owned cooperative.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 158 scored entries below, 38 tied, 30 above on Solidarity with the Unemployed.

Linked evidence
  • context Organic Valley describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1]
  • context Organic Valley's public model centers certified organic family farms and cooperative marketing. [2]
  • Organic Valley presents its cooperative as a way for small family farms to remain viable in organic food markets, supporting producer livelihoods outside ordinary agribusiness employment dependence. [6]
Loss-Bearing Fidelity
?
Willingness to absorb costs to preserve values, workers, users, and public obligations.
5 / 7

The linked record identifies Organic Valley as a farmer-owned cooperative.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 119 scored entries below, 43 tied, 64 above on Loss-Bearing Fidelity.

Linked evidence
  • context Organic Valley describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1]
  • context Organic Valley's public model centers certified organic family farms and cooperative marketing. [2]
  • Organic Valley presents cooperative marketing as a shared farmer-owner structure, making producer stability and risk-sharing part of the business model rather than only discretionary charity. [7]
Market Conduct
?
Pricing fairness, switching costs, lock-in, and rent extraction.
4 / 5

The linked record identifies Organic Valley as a farmer-owned cooperative.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 106 scored entries below, 73 tied, 47 above on Market Conduct.

Linked evidence
  • context Organic Valley describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1]
  • context Organic Valley's public model centers certified organic family farms and cooperative marketing. [2]
  • Organic Valley markets organic food through a farmer-owned cooperative structure, which creates a more producer-aligned market relationship than ordinary branded food ownership even though it still sells in competitive retail channels. [8]
Product Integrity
?
Preservation of quality rather than degradation for monetization.
5 / 5

Organic Valley's public model centers certified organic family farms and cooperative marketing.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 134 scored entries below, 92 tied, 0 above on Product Integrity.

Linked evidence
  • Organic Valley's public model centers certified organic family farms and cooperative marketing. [2]
Scale Integrity
?
Whether growth improves or degrades fairness and accountability.
4 / 5

The linked record identifies Organic Valley as a farmer-owned cooperative.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 109 scored entries below, 81 tied, 36 above on Scale Integrity.

Linked evidence
  • context Organic Valley describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1]
  • context Organic Valley's public model centers certified organic family farms and cooperative marketing. [2]
  • Organic Valley describes a cooperative made up of roughly 1,500 small family farms, showing scale through member farms rather than a single centralized agribusiness plantation model. [9]

Penalties
Penalty Applied Why this penalty
Toxic Products
?
Current sale of products whose ordinary use, exposure, ingredients, residues, packaging, or formulation creates toxic, addictive, or consumer-safety risk. Food products receive at least light scrutiny for artificial colors, artificial flavors, petro-derived additives, pesticide residues, contaminants, endocrine-disrupting packaging, and ultra-processed formulation. Ordinary adult nightlife or alcohol service is not penalized by itself without evidence of predatory marketing, youth targeting, addiction-extractive design, or unusual product-safety misconduct. Range: -5 to 0.
-1

Organic Valley currently sells dairy products, so animal-agriculture exposure is relevant even though the cooperative emphasizes organic production; the product category creates ordinary…

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 24 scored entries below, 14 tied, 188 above on Toxic Products.

Linked evidence
  • Organic Valley currently sells dairy products, so animal-agriculture exposure is relevant even though the cooperative emphasizes organic production; the product category creates ordinary toxic, addictive, or consumer-safety exposure under the directory's toxic-products screen. [10]

Bonus Credits

No bonus credits applied in this version.

Confidence Basis

Confidence Basis

Confidence is computed from the evidence trail and review state, not typed into the profile by hand.

Medium 78/100

10 verified linked claims 10 direct axis claims 0 disputed claims 10/10 components covered

This confidence label measures the source-backed evidence trail. AI-scaffolded scores remain tentative until human review.

Claim confidence 13/20

10 verified linked claims

Source quality 12/18

Best source per verified claim, weighted by institutional reliability

Direct axis-specific claims 14/18

10 direct claims across 10 active components

Dispute load 12/12

0 disputed claims on this entity

Recency 10/10

Newest accepted timestamp: May 13, 2026

Reviewer status 7/12

Human-reviewed components score higher than AI scaffolding

Component coverage 10/10

10/10 evidence-bearing components have direct support

Evidence State

Evidence State

Profile stateAI draft / human-pending
VerificationUnverified
ConfidenceMedium confidence (AI)
ThoroughnessPartial (AI)
Correction routeUse “Challenge this rating” for factual errors, missing counterevidence, source problems, or calculation mistakes.
Company responseCompany representatives can submit source-backed corrections; payment never changes scores or reviewer authority.

Claims and Sources

Claims are the evidence record. Each claim needs a source link, axis category, status, confidence level, and timestamp before it can support a score.

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.
1Organic Valley describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative.

Ownership Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

2Organic Valley's public model centers certified organic family farms and cooperative marketing.

Product Integrity Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

3Organic Valley presents itself as a cooperative of organic family farms, making farmer-owner participation central to the enterprise structure.

Governance Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

4Organic Valley describes itself as a cooperative owned and run by family farmers, which routes more enterprise benefit toward producers than a conventional investor-owned food processor.

Extraction Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

5Organic Valley says the cooperative is owned and run by family farmers, giving producer-members meaningful agency while leaving hired-farm and processing labor less directly governed by the cooperative form.

Labor Sovereignty Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

6Organic Valley presents its cooperative as a way for small family farms to remain viable in organic food markets, supporting producer livelihoods outside ordinary agribusiness employment dependence.

Solidarity Unemployed Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

7Organic Valley presents cooperative marketing as a shared farmer-owner structure, making producer stability and risk-sharing part of the business model rather than only discretionary charity.

Loss Bearing Fidelity Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

8Organic Valley markets organic food through a farmer-owned cooperative structure, which creates a more producer-aligned market relationship than ordinary branded food ownership even though it still sells in competitive retail channels.

Market Conduct Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

9Organic Valley describes a cooperative made up of roughly 1,500 small family farms, showing scale through member farms rather than a single centralized agribusiness plantation model.

Scale Integrity Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

10Organic Valley currently sells dairy products, so animal-agriculture exposure is relevant even though the cooperative emphasizes organic production; the product category creates ordinary toxic, addictive, or consumer-safety exposure under the directory's toxic-products screen.

Toxic Products Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

Alternatives

AGOOD61 tentative score Three Stone Hearth worker-owned community-supported kitchen · same market AGOOD60 tentative score Cheese Board Collective worker cooperative · same market AGOOD60 tentative score ChiFresh Kitchen worker-owned prepared-meal cooperative · same market AGOOD59 tentative score Alvarado Street Bakery worker-owned bakery · same market AGOOD59 tentative score Arizmendi Bakery worker cooperative bakery · same market

Competitors

AGOOD61 tentative score Three Stone Hearth worker-owned community-supported kitchen · same market AGOOD60 tentative score Cheese Board Collective worker cooperative · same market AGOOD60 tentative score ChiFresh Kitchen worker-owned prepared-meal cooperative · same market AGOOD59 tentative score Alvarado Street Bakery worker-owned bakery · same market AGOOD59 tentative score Arizmendi Bakery worker cooperative bakery · same market AGOOD59 tentative score Rainbow Grocery Cooperative worker cooperative grocer · same market AGOOD58 tentative score Equal Exchange worker cooperative · same market AGOOD58 tentative score Niles Pie Company worker-owned pie shop and bakery · same market

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How This Page Is Maintained

Evidence comes in through contributors, is checked by verifiers, and is synthesized by reviewers. Founder authority remains narrow and visible; scores recalculate when verified claims or the rubric change.

Civic Note

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Audit Log

Recent public changes for this company or group. The full audit log is part of the Transparency record.

ai-scaffolding toxic-products-assessment

Added tentative AI-generated Toxic Products penalty -1 and directory value for current toxic, addictive, pesticide, livestock, chemical, or consumer-safety product exposure.

ai_scaffolding score

Published tentative AI-generated scaffolding score 48 for initial human review under gcd-rubric-v1.

View Full Audit Log