PepsiCo Sues Indian Farmers Over Exclusive Potatoes.
ASHER: It's not exactly a traditional recipe, Pepsi and potatoes. But put these ingredients together and you get a huge uproar. PepsiCo is actually suing four Indian farmers, accusing them of growing a certain type of potato that it says is exclusively for Lay's chips. Is reportedly demanding damages amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Farmers Association in India say the law is on the side of the small farmers. Now, Pepsi says it will drop the lawsuit if the farmers that it's suing join its authorized cultivation programs. It's just one example of friction between small Indian operators and international mega corporations. We've also seen local retailers accuse giants like Wal-Mart and Amazon of running -- or ruining rather their business. Hannah Lownsbrough is the executive director of SumOfUs; an organization using people power to hold companies to account. She joins us live now from London. It -- you know, Hannah, it does actually seem rather aggressive to have this multi-national -- multi- billion dollar company suing four small farmers. I mean, these farmers can't really be that much of a threat, can they?</s>HANNAH LOWNSBROUGH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SUMOFUS: We don't think so. I think some of us members feel that, you know, this is a really good example of a very large corporation taking on very small -- a very small pro -- you know, in many cases family-run businesses and going after them for amounts of money that are kind of spare change to a company like PepsiCo, but can be absolutely ruin for you know, for a small farmer.</s>ASHER: How are the farmers actually supposed to know that a company like Pepsi has exclusive rights to a certain type of potato?</s>LOWNSBROUGH: Well, I mean, I think this is exactly the question that some of us members, you know, would ask really. And it sort of highlights the way in which it makes -- it's a bit of a nonsense really when these huge corporations seem to own things like seeds or water supply. These sorts of things which, you know, to most people's way of thinking really belong to all of us. So, you know, we're not surprised that the farmers, you know, didn't really believe themselves to be doing anything wrong, and that this lawsuit has come as a huge shock and is completely overwhelming.</s>ASHER: The lawsuit for -- was for over a $100,000 for each of the farmers. I mean, when you have a massive -- I mean, I can't even imagine what it's like to be a small time farmer in a place like India and having Pepsi suing you. I mean, how do farmers protect themselves?</s>LOWNSBROUGH: Well, I think it's difficult. I think we're seeing civil society in India has really come forward to stand with these farmers and challenge the behavior of PepsiCo in this case. But also you know, similar corporations. You mentioned Amazon in the introduction, you know, who have also been accused of doing things which are really damaging many Indian domestic operations. And I think there's some evidence that the Indian government is taking steps to regulate, but these are -- these are tough questions to answer because it is critically important that, you know, we don't end up in a situation where a handful of companies are you know, owning the seeds that we rely on to produce our food supply or, you know, are responsible for almost all the business that gets done online.</s>ASHER: So Pepsi's argument is that they filed this lawsuit to protect the interest of thousands of farmers who are part of its potato farming program. Is that a fair argument do you think?</s>LOWNSBROUGH: I don't think so really. I mean, I think you know, you asked a good question at the beginning which is, you know, how are they supposed to know really that these seeds are sort of, you know, they belong to somebody else. But I also think that, you know, arguably, PepsiCo is really setting up a relationship of dependency between some of these farmers with whom it has its cultivation -- farmers with whom it has its cultivation program. We're seeing examples in some cases for instance of seeds being developed that can -- will only grow and will only thrive if they're also raised using fertilizers or what have you, that are also produced by some of these parent companies. So you are seeing sort of small farmers really ending up sort of in-hawked to some of these very big businesses. And it's hard to see that as kind of, you know, creating the conditions in which everybody can make a success of -- make a success of a small business.</s>ASHER: All right, Hannah, thank you so much for being with us, appreciate that.</s>LOWNSBROUGH: Thank you.</s>ASHER: OK, so from the farms of India, we are taking you to the lush landscape, that is Hawaii. If you're going to do the hula dance, you better get your hips in gear. Richard Quest is going to be showing us all how it's done, we'll be talking tourism in two shakes, that's next.