" And yet the marketing strategy for Roundup (develop just one chemical for all agricultural products while other herbicide companies were developing a "broad spectrum" of various chemicals) turned out to be a "triumph." A European chemical expert added that Monsanto's "...triumph fed an arrogance and disregard for the outside world."
In time, Shapiro would become the Monsanto CEO. He knew how to get things done by marketing, but he also knew how to use friends in high places to get the Monsanto story across to Europeans, a huge market for Monsanto that had been reticent to buy into genetically engineered foods. Shapiro had "good friends" in the Bill Clinton administration and U.S. Special Trade Representative Mickey Kantor held "stormy meetings" with Europeans (166). A year after the European Union had authorized Monsanto to enter their market, Shapiro was asked how Roundup Ready got the Europeans to agree; "We played chicken with the Europeans," said Shapiro. "And we won."
THREE: (Comet Skateboards / Monsanto's soybeans) the parallel that comes to mind when comparing Jason Salfi's Comet Skateboard company and its model with Monsanto's business model - including its launch of genetically altered soybeans - is that the two organizations are very much unalike and yet they both tried something new in business. Comet Skateboards are built in a solar-powered building and Comet is actively involved in helping the community of Oakland. The company uses sustainably harvested wood and has a goal of making their skateboards "cradle-to-cradle" (made of sustainable materials and able to be recycled at the end of its useful existence).
Jason Salfi, the CEO of Comet Skateboards, said in an interview with Phoresia magazine that he wants to help other grassroots entrepreneurs "see their vision to fruition." He says the solar power in his factory may help "bring attention to clean energy" and "spur more market demand" so other companies will come around to renewable energy. Salfi has revolutionized the skateboard industry by recently introducing a new board using a soy protein polymer board with...
Salfi as for Shapiro and Monsanto, they were revolutionizing an industry too, but not with "natural fibre" like Comet Skateboards; in fact in 1996 Monsanto decided to launch a brand of genetically engineered soybeans into the European Union market without announcing ahead of time that the product wasn't natural. Shapiro had been impressed with how Zeneca's red cans of tomato paste - which were marketed ahead of launch as "genetically altered tomatoes" - went over with European consumers (168). But a whole different marketing approach had been taken six months before the Zeneca product arrived on shelves; there was "a huge uproar" when the marketing campaign began in Europe, given that the press went crazy with wild stories, but by the time the product hit stores "...it was all over," Simon Best said (168).
And so Comet Skateboards constantly shows interest in helping to develop other sustainable entrepreneurs in the Bay Area, and hosts green-related festivals, and creates a board that could "grow from sprout in one season and be skated and then bio-degrade when it breaks." The CEO of Monsanto showed on the other hand pure arrogance in the market and contempt for anyone who would stand up to his company or his model. Comet was willing to try something new and bet that the market was there. Monsanto was also willing to try something new. That is the link that unites the two.
Otherwise, Comet Skateboards can be seen as a model for progressive young businesses that are aware of the need to build sustainable products, and Monsanto can be seen as a company with a chip on its shoulder.
Works Cited
Charles, Daniel. Lords of the Harvest: Biotech, Big Money, and the Future of Food. Cambridge:
Perseus Publishing, 2001.
Comet Skateboards. "Phoresia Interview with Jason Salfi." Retrieved April 15, 2008, at http://blog.cometriders.org/?p=41.
The Integrators. "Bringing fundamental change to everyday life." Retrieved April 16, 2008, at http://www.inc.com.
