Monsanto Europe: Monsanto Introduces Gmos to Europe with Unexpected Results

Abstract

This case, which can be used in conjunction with the other Monsanto cases (E-0216, E-0220, E-0263), details Monsanto's efforts to introduce genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into Europe in the mid-1990s. Monsanto did not anticipate the European resistance and public outcry based on a number of factors, and company officials ultimately admitted their mistakes in the introduction process. Additionally, the case poses the basic question: How could Monsanto, in its role as a seed producer, have interacted with the international food-supply chain so that its primary consumers had a market outside the United States for their genetically modified crops?

Excerpt

UVA-E-0217

MONSANTO EUROPE

Monsanto Introduces GMOs to Europe with Unexpected Results

We have probably irritated and antagonized more people than we have persuaded. Our confidence in the technology and our enthusiasm for it has, I think, been widely seen—and understandably so—as condescension or indeed arrogance.

— Robert Shapiro, Monsanto CEO, 1999

In May 1996, the European Union (EU) gave Monsanto permission to import genetically modified soybeans throughout the rest of Europe. In late 1996, U.S.-grown genetically modified soybeans began entering EU commodity markets. Within months of the introduction, field trials were sabotaged and destroyed, environmental protection organizations including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth were leading mass protests against genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and European public opinion of genetically modified technologies began a steady decline.

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Keywords: community relations, ethical issues, goodwill, growwth strategy, international business, marketing strategy, new-market entry, new-product marketing, public relations/publicity, social responsibility, technological innovation