When you walk into a Trader Joe’s past the beautiful cut flowers and shelves full of artisan breads back to the small sample area staffed by a friendly employee dressed in jeans and a Hawaiian shirt you feel like you are walking into your neighborhood grocer. Employees are all kind of laid back, everyone seems at home and, if you are a regular, chances are they know your name. It’s just that kind of a place.
On the surface, that is.
Truth is Trader Joe’s is big business for a trust owned by mega discount chain Aldi’s co-founder Theo Albrecht, Sr.
Aldi has its roots in Germany and operates 7,500 stores internationally in a dozen countries. The first U.S. store opened in 1976. Aldi has annual U.S. sales of about $5 billion, according to business research company Hoovers." Business Week Online
Albrecht bought Trader Joe’s in 1979 when it was a small California specialty grocery store chain. It was a very good investment for Albrecht. In 2004 sales
were estimated [at] $2.1 billion, or $1,132 per square foot, twice that of traditional supermarkets, according to the Food Institute, a nonprofit research group in Elmwood Park, N.J.
Trader Joe’s magic is a combination of its low prices and "feel good" atmosphere - plus, in the words of one consultant, "they have no competition." Business Week Online
Trader Joe's feel good atmosphere suffered a blow with the death of 17 year old illegal immigrant Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. Maria collapsed after working 8 hours in the blistering heat tending vines for Merced Farm Labor, a independent contractor, who provided workers for West Coast Grape Farming co-owned by magnate Fred Franzia of Bronco Wine and "Two Buck Chuck " fame.
The UFW and bloggers reacted calling for Trader Joe's to speak out against its vendors apparent disregard of California's stringent heat regulations.
I was one of the bloggers calling for Trader Joe's to respond to Maria's death. After weeks of silence I received Trader Joe's carefully worded email response to my request that Two Buck Chuck be pulled from the shelves asserting that their hands were clean because an independent contractor (Merced Farm Labor) employed Maria and that the vineyard (West Coast Grape Farming) where Maria collapsed was owned by a company that made wines other than Two Buck Chuck.
While their email response might have placated some, for me, not so much. I had done my homework and I knew Trader Joe's was dancing around a larger truth. Comments across the blogosphere made it clear to me that people did not understand the symbiotic and lucrative relationship that supports the call for Trader Joe's to take action as to the way Fred Franzia and Bronco Wines treat farm laborers.
Let me break it down for you.
The Players:
Bronco Wineries - "Bronco is best known as the company behind Charles Shaw, nicknamed "Two-Buck Chuck." Bronco created a stir in the wine industry in early 2003 by selling its Charles Shaw brand for $1.99 in Trader Joe's Company locations and has sold more than 10 million cases during the last two years."
Fred Franzia, called the Scourge of Napa Valley, is the head of Bronco. At Bronco's 30th anniversary celebration Franzia boasted that
he and his family own 30,000 acres of California vineyards in 11 counties, the largest ownership of vines in the state.
Charles Shaw is Bronco's leading label; other labels sold by Bronco include
ForestVille Vineyard, Montpellier Vineyard, Hacienda Wine Cellars, Napa Ridge, Forest Glen, Estrella, Napa Ridge, Sea Ridge, Coastal Ridge, Silver Ridge and on-premise brands like Salmon Creek and Domaine Napa, ... and a new super-value wine for independent grocers, Crane Lake."
via winebusiness.com
West Coast Grape Farming Inc. is the named owner of the the vineyard Maria was working in at the time of her collapse. A public relations spokesman for the vineyard, stated that the vineyard was "partially owned by some of the owners of Bronco Wine ... but not the wine company itself ..."
Other reports state that West Coast Grape Farming is a Subsidiary of Bronco. A search of California Business Records reveals that Fred Franzia is the agent for service of process for West Coast - i.e. he is the one who accepts service of lawsuits and other official papers for the company.
Corporation
WEST COAST GRAPE FARMING, INC.
Number: C1604050 Date Filed: 12/30/1987 Status: active
Jurisdiction: California
Address
6342 BYSTRUM RD
CERES, CA 95307
Agent for Service of Process
FRED T FRANZIA
6342 BYSTRUM RD
CERES, CA 95307
Bottom line - one or more of the owners of Bronco are making money from the vineyard where Maria died.
Merced Farm Labor is an independent contractor hired by West Coast Grape Farming Inc. to provide field workers.
So let’s get a clear picture about the kind of power we are talking about. Bronco Wine, the 4th largest wine producer in the United States, is owned by Fred Franzia and his family. The Franzia's control the largest number of vines in the State of California. The top label of Bronco Wine is Two Buck Chuck.
Do the math. Trader Joe's is the sole supplier of the top label of the 4th largest wine producer in the Unites States. Since Bronco, the Franzia Famiy and Trader Joe's inked their deal six years ago "more than 360 million bottles of Charles Shaw wines have been produced" - at two bucks a pop that is 720 million dollars of leverage.
Are you getting a sense of why Trader Joe's has power, and responsibility, to take action to promote worker safety?
While Trader Joe's is technically correct when they say that West Coast Farming supplies grapes for many wines, it appears that all those wines are related in some measure to Bronco Wineries and Fred Franzia. Their statement that "The company employing the young farm worker has no more of a relation to Trader Joe’s than they do to any other wine retailer or restaurant" is disingenuous and a slap in the face to "the underpaid and overeducated' shoppers Trader Joe courts."
Maria Vasquez died in service to numerous entities responsible for producing a cheap bottle of wine that has become synonymous with Trader Joe's.
How you can help:
Contact your local Trader Joe's -tell them you won't buy "Two Buck Chuck" until they take action to insure their vendors are complying with the law.
Send a fax to Trader Joe’s corporate offices from the United Farm Workers campaign site.
Call Trader Joe's at 626-599-3817 (West Coast) and 781-455-7319 (East Coast) and ask the grocery chain to implement a corporate policy to ensure that its suppliers are not violating the law by failing to provide basic protections such as cold water, shade and clean bathrooms for farm workers.
Call or fax West Coast Grape Farming to demand they take the necessary steps to protect workers hired by their independent contractors. Contact either Safety Director Debbie Barry, and/or Fred Franzia, partial owner, 6342 Bystrum Rd. Ceres, CA 95307 phone: 209-538-3131/fax: 209-538-4634.