What’s the best way to squash your competition? Buy them out. Applegate Farms, LLC really has no good reason to sell out to a GMO-supporting mega-corporation. They’ve been worth millions for years, and have gained success in the organic food industry like few others. But money talks, and the organic meat seller is in negotiations with industrial food giant Hormel Foods Corp. to become part of its conglomerate.

The sell-out is being described by Reuters, and is reportedly worth between $600 million and $1 billion, but both parties declined to comment since the matter is confidential.

Hormel swallowing up Applegate Farms isn’t the only pro-GMO company using cut-throat tactics and big money to get rid of competition. The sale of Applegate Farms comes amid a slew of merger activity for meat companies.

Recent high-profile deals also include:

Hershey Co’s acquisition of jerky company Krave

Post Holdings Inc’s $2.5 billion acquisition of food processing company Michael Foods

Tyson Foods Inc’s $8.6 billion acquisition of packaged meats producer Hillshire Brands

If you want organic chicken tenders, non-GMO sausages, lunch meats, or other healthier meat choices, you won’t find them in the Applegate Farms brand much longer.

Hormel is among companies like Monsanto, ConAgra, Kellogg, Smuckers, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi-Co who are trying to block your right to know what is in your food. They contributed heavily through the Grocery Manufacturer’s Association (GMA) to defeat Prop 37 in California which would have given people the right to know if genetically modified ingredients were in food.

This $1.2 trillion dollar industry can easily swallow even successful million-dollar companies like Applegate Farms – that is until we stop buying their products. Who really knows what is in SPAM, one of Hormel’s best-selling products? Hormel is also a notorious union buster and treat the animals used for their products poorly.

This article originally appeared at Natural Society.

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