How's this for a scary Halloween - Clorox, maker of bleach, charcoal and other products purchased the beloved natural personal-care brand Burt's Bees. As reported by AdAge, Clorox is hoping Burt's Bees incredible growth will continue even faster with the parent company's larger distribution system.

Many consumers are unaware that organic and natural "mom and pop" companies are owned by major corporations – check out the Organic Consumers Association list for a few examples. While not very recent, but it provides some interesting insight into how many of the companies we perceive as small are really not.

We've seen how good, values-based companies can grow under larger companies and still maintain integrity (example: Kashi being owned by Kellogg). In this case, the CEO of Burt's Bees, John Replogle is quoted in the AdAge story as saying:

"We're going to continue to run the business with the same team and the same principles with the same integrity of the natural products and sustainability that we always have, so really there should not be any perceived change for the consumer. And if you get to know Clorox and their people, mission and values, they're tightly aligned with our own."

We can't help but wonder if Burt's Bees will be able to maintain its integrity under the giant Clorox, but certainly hope it will.

- Laura