The Brand Ledger
Tracking the brands that got worse on purpose — and the ones that didn't.
The Brand Ledger tracks 398 brands, from the tools in your garage to the pans in your kitchen. Who owns them, what they used to be, whether they're still worth buying. Updated as things change.
Recently updated
View all →Apparel · Outerwear - Technical,Base Layers & Wool
Melanzana
Status: ApprovedHand-cut, hand-sewn technical fleece, best known for the Micro Grid Hoodie, sold almost entirely out of one storefront in Leadville, Colorado. Deliberately hard to buy: appointment-only, two items per visit, no wholesale, no paid advertising.
Kitchen & Cookware · Small Appliances
Vitamix
Status: WatchlistThe blender that gets willed to grandchildren.
Supplements · Multivitamins
Nature Made
Status: ApprovedAmerica's most-verified mass-market vitamin brand. Owns the plants that make it.
Pharmavite LLC (Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)
Supplements · Practitioner/Clinical
Thorne
Status: WatchlistPractitioner-channel supplements. The one brand in the category whose verification held its value.
L Catterton (P&G acquisition signed 2026-08-04, NOT yet closed)
Supplements · Practitioner/Clinical
Pure Encapsulations
Status: WatchlistPractitioner-channel brand. Nestle calls it the #1 recommended brand in the US practitioner market.
Nestle Health Science
Supplements · Multivitamins
Garden of Life
Status: WatchlistMass-premium natural supplements. Bought as a brand without a factory; its production was absorbed into a parent's plant network.
Nestle Health Science
Verdicts
Approved
145 brands
Brands whose quality, ownership structure, and stewardship check out. Still worth buying.
e.g. Knipex, Goruck
View all →
Watchlist
155 brands
Brands with documented risk factors. Either recent ownership changes, conglomerate pressure, or emerging quality issues. Buy with eyes open.
e.g. Starrett, Tom Bihn
View all →
Former Great
19 brands
Brands that used to be worth recommending, but aren't anymore. The product no longer reflects the reputation.
e.g. Ryobi, Tumi
View all →
Avoid
79 brands
Brands actively engaged in the enshittification playbook. Licensing models, post-acquisition cost-cutting, brand equity being extracted.
e.g. Craftsman, Ray-Ban
View all →
Latest investigation
Same Shoe, Different Factory
Nike does not make Nike shoes. Four contractors it does not own build 59% of them. Adidas outsources almost 100%. The fastest-growing brand in running buys its shoes on individual purchase orders, with no commitment at all. Two majors still own a factory. Plus the ones still worth buying.
Newsletter
Get the next one.
Corporate autopsies on the brands you trust. Subscribe for the investigations behind every verdict on the Ledger.
No spam. Nobody pays me to say nice things. Unsubscribe anytime.