Dean Foods

Dean Foods
Public
Traded as
Industry Food processing
Founded 1925
Headquarters Tower at Cityplace
Dallas, Texas
Key people
[1]
Products Milk, dairy products, juice
Revenue US$7.7 billion (2016)[2]
US$263.6 million (2016)[3]
US$119.9 million (2016)[3]
Total assets US$2.6 billion (2016)[3]
Total equity US$610.5 million (2016)[3]
Number of employees
 Approx. 17,000[4]
Website deanfoods.com

Dean Foods is an American food and beverage company and the largest dairy company in the United States.[5] Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company maintains plants and distributors in the United States. Dean Foods has 66 manufacturing facilities in 32 U.S. states and distributes its products across all 50.[6][7] The company's 58 brands include DairyPure, TruMoo, Friendly's, Mayfield, Dean's, Meadow Gold, Tuscan and Alta Dena.[6] Dean Foods was acquired by the Dallas-based Suiza Foods Corporation, who later adopted the Dean Foods name.

History

Dean Foods was founded by Samuel E. Dean, Sr., who owned an evaporated milk processing facility in Franklin Park, Illinois, in the 1920s.[8] After purchasing other Illinois dairy plants Dean developed the enterprise "from a small regional dairy into a diversified food company".[9][10]

Dean Foods headquarters in the Tower at Cityplace in Dallas

In December 2001, the legacy brand of Dean Foods was acquired by the Dallas-based Suiza Foods Corporation, who later adopted the Dean Foods name.[11] As part of the merger, 11 plants were divested under the name National Dairy to a group led by Dairy Farmers of America.[12] In 2005, Dean Specialty Foods was spun off from Dean Foods as Bay Valley Foods, LLC, a division of TreeHouse Foods, Inc.[13] In June 2005, TreeHouse Foods started trading on the New York Stock Exchange with a ticker of THS.[13]

In March 2005, the Cornucopia Institute filed a complaint with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging that their Horizon Organic subsidiary was violating "organic livestock management" standards.[14][15]

In August 2006, Dean Foods acquired Jilbert's Dairy, a 70-year-old family business near Marquette, Michigan.[16] Dean Food's TofuTown brand was acquired by the Hain Celestial Group in June 2007. In December, Dean Foods bought the Wells Dairy milk plant in Le Mars, Iowa.[17] Dean Foods purchased Alpro in 2009 for an estimated US$455 million, making it a "global leader in soy beverages".[18] This resulted in a restructuring of the company that included selling off a number of subsidiaries, including Rachel's Organic.[19]

On May 12, 2008, the Cornucopia Institute filed a second complaint with the USDA again alleging that Deans Foods had violated federal organic regulations requiring access to pasture and fresh grass for their dairy cows.[20]

Silk brand soy milk was made using organic soybeans until early 2009, when Dean Foods switched to conventional soybeans while maintaining the same UPC barcodes and prices on the Silk products and replacing the word “organic” with “natural” on the product's packaging,[21] prompting the Cornucopia Institute to file complaints that the company had not properly notified retailers or consumers.[22][23]

Foremost Farms USA, a cooperative of over 2,000 dairy farmers in several mid-western states, sold its Wisconsin milk processing plants to Dean Foods in 2009.[24] In January 2010, the US Department of Justice and the state attorneys general's office of Wisconsin and Michigan, filed a lawsuit objecting to the purchase and alleged that it created a monopolizing provider.[25] Dean Foods announced it was contesting the complaint.[26]

In the first quarter of 2010 the company moved to the Cityplace district of Dallas, Texas.[27][28] In October 2010, Dean Foods announced it was retiring the Schepps brand for dairy products in the Dallas, Texas area in favor of their Oak Farms brand. The Schepps brand had been in the Dallas market since 1942.[28][29]

In 2011, a class action suit was brought against Deans Foods over health claims made on the packaging of Horizon Organic Milk.[30] In 2012, Dean Foods contributed $253,950 to fund opposition to California's ballot Proposition 37 which would require mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients.[31][32]

Dean Foods spun off WhiteWave Foods, the maker of Horizon Organic and Silk Soymilk, as a standalone company in May 2013.[33]

In May 2015 Dean Foods announced that they would eliminate regional brands for its milk in favor of a single brand, DairyPure, which was already being used as a sub-brand under its previous regional marketing scheme.[34]

In 2017, bettor and stock trader Billy Walters was convicted of insider trading in Dean shares in Federal court. Walters' source of non-public information was company director Thomas C. Davis employing a prepaid cell phone nicknamed "the Batphone" and, sometimes, the code words "Dallas Cowboys" for the company name. The case involved profits or avoided losses of $40 million from 2008 to 2014. The verdict was to be appealed according to Walters' lawyer.[35]

Products

Oak Farms offices, East Downtown, Houston
Oak Farms factory, East Downtown, Houston

Dean Foods products include milk, ice cream, dairy products, juice, and teas.[36][37] It processes milk in the United States under a number of regional and national brands.[6]

National brands

  • DairyPure
  • Killer Shake – a subsidiary of Killer Productions Company (now defunct) is a former brand of chocolate milk with a dessert-like style. On October 1, 1996, Dean Foods completed the acquisition of the rights to the Wacky Willie and Killer Shake trademarks for $300,000 in cash from Killer Productions Company. Dean Foods, was allowed at its sole option, before August 1999, to pay an additional $700,000 to Killer Productions representing the final portion of the purchase price. In addition, in the event net sales reached $5.0 million in any consecutive twelve-month period ending on or before August 1999, Dean Foods was required to pay the additional $700,000 that represented the final portion of the purchase price. Dean Foods manufactured and sold this product under a license arrangement for the period January 1, 1996, through September 30, 1996.[38]
  • TruMoo
  • Uncle Matt's Organic[37][39]

Regional brands

Berkeley Farms logo
Garelick Farms Logo
  • Alta Dena, Southern California, Arizona
  • Barber's, Alabama, parts of Mississippi, Georgia and Florida
  • Berkeley Farms, San Francisco Bay Area, California. Founded 1910
  • Broughton Foods Company, Southeast Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, Western Virginia and West Virginia. Broughton Foods Company, or Broughton's Dairy or simply Broughton's, is a regional dairy and food company based out of Marietta, Ohio, that serves the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia.[40] The company also operates a sub-plant in Charleston, West Virginia. Broughton Foods Company was formerly owned by Suiza Foods Company[40] and is now owned by Dean Foods Company.
  • Brown's Dairy, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida
  • Country Fresh, Michigan and Wisconsin
  • Creamland, New Mexico
  • Dean's, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania
  • Friendly's, an ice cream brand served at Friendly's restaurants and sold in stores[41]
  • Gandy's, West Texas
  • Garelick Farms, New England
  • Hygeia Dairy, South Texas
  • Jilbert Dairy, Michigan's Upper Peninsula
  • Land O'Lakes milk (licensed brand), Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin
  • Lehigh Valley, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
  • Liberty Dairy, Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • Louis Trauth Dairy, Kentucky and Ohio
  • Mayfield Dairy, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky
  • McArthur Dairy, South Florida
  • Meadow Brook, Pennsylvania and New York
  • Meadow Gold Dairy, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming
  • Melody Farms, Detroit, which itself had previously acquired R.W. Wilson & Sons, Detroit, Michigan[42]
  • Model Dairy, Nevada
  • H. Myer Dairy Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Oak Farms Dairy, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma
  • PET Dairy, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia
  • Price's Creameries, El Paso, Texas and Southern New Mexico
  • Purity Dairies, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama
  • ReadyLeaf Tea
  • Reiter Dairy, Ohio
  • Swiss Premium, Pennsylvania
  • T. G. Lee Dairy, Florida
  • Tuscan Dairy Farms, New York and New Jersey

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Form 10-K" (PDF). 2016. p. S-1. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "Form 10-K" (PDF). 2016. p. F-43. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Form 10-K" (PDF). 2016. p. 21. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "Form 10-K" (PDF). 2016. p. 6. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "'Healthy Milk Boom' Prompts Dean to Raise DairyPure Prices". Farm Journal. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 "Form 10-K" (PDF). 2016. p. 4. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  7. ↑ Martin, Clarence (15 July 2017). "Credit Suisse Maintains Rating and Lowers Price Target on Dean Foods Company". Highlightpress.com. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  8. ↑ "Dean Foods Co (DF.N) Company Profile". Reuters.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  9. ↑ "Brief History". Dean Foods. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  10. ↑ Aditi Shrivastava (8 Aug 2013). "Dean Foods to close milk factories as earnings sour". Reuters. Retrieved 2 Oct 2013.
  11. ↑ "Dean Foods Annual Report" (PDF). Library.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  12. ↑ "Dean Foods - Suiza Foods and Dean Foods Complete Merger". Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  13. 1 2 "History". TreeHouse Foods. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  14. ↑ Staff writer (March 1, 2005). "The Cornucopia Institute has filed two formal complaints asking the USDA to investigate alleged violations of the federal organic raw by factory farms operating in Idaho and California with ties to Dean Foods-owned Horizon Organic (press release)". Dairy Field. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  15. ↑ Ivey, Mike (March 7, 2006). "CAN A MEGA-DAIRY BE ORGANIC?". Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  16. ↑ Archived December 2, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ↑
  18. ↑ "Deans Foods Buys Alpro", Dallas Business Journal, 6 July 2009.
  19. ↑ "French company buys dairy company Rachel's". BBC News. 2010-07-28. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  20. ↑ Search results at galegroup.com
  21. ↑ "Grocers irked over not being told that bestselling soy milk is no longer organic". November 9, 2009. Retrieved April 19, 2010. : Title and date found in "Not Crying over Spilt Soymilk", cornucopia.org, September 7, 2010.
  22. ↑ "Pioneer Press: Search Results". newsbank.com. "The Cornucopia Institute made the complaints to the U.S. Department of Agriculture against Target and also accuses Silk soymilk producer Dean Foods and its Broomfield, Colo.-based WhiteWave Foods division, of quietly shifting their products away from organics."
  23. ↑ "Off Target - Major Retailer Accused of Organic Improprieties State and Federal Complaints Allege Mislabeling | Cornucopia Institute". Cornucopia.org. 2009-10-20. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  24. ↑ Barrett, Rick. "Dean Foods acquires Waukesha, De Pere milk-processing plants". Journal Sentinel. April 2, 2009. Retrieved on February 16, 2010.
  25. ↑ "USDOJ: Justice Department Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Dean Foods Company". Justice.gov. 2010-01-22. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  26. ↑ Archived July 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  27. ↑ Hethcock, Bill. "Dean Foods to relocate corporate office." Dallas Business Journal. Monday June 8, 2009. Retrieved on August 2, 2009.
  28. 1 2 Wilonsky, Robert (October 13, 2010). "So Dean Foods Is Eliminating the 'Schepps' Name in Dallas. Well, That Doesn't Seem Right". Dallas Observer. Unfair Park. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  29. ↑ Dean Foods (October 12, 2010). "Dean Foods to Transition Schepps Brand to Oak Farms in DFW Area". Action 3 News. PRNewswire. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  30. ↑ "Dean Foods sued for Horizon milk's health claims - Chicago Tribune". articles.chicagotribune.com. 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
  31. ↑ "Who's Funding Prop 37, Labeling for Genetically Engineered Foods? | Propositions | Elections 2012". kcet.org. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  32. ↑ "Funding for and against Proposition 37 - Spreadsheets - Los Angeles Times". Spreadsheets.latimes.com. 2012-08-21. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  33. ↑ Wallace, Alicia (23 May 2013). "Dean Foods completes spinoff of WhiteWave". Denver Post. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  34. ↑ Dean Foods hopes for milk rebound with DairyPure Fortune, May 4, 2015
  35. ↑ Moynihan, Colin, and Liz Moyer, "William T. Walters, Famed Sports Bettor, Is Guilty in Insider Trading Case", The New York Times, April 7, 2017. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  36. ↑ Shruti Singh (February 16, 2017). "Dean Wants to Move Its Menu Beyond Milk With Juice, Ice Cream". Bloomberg. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  37. 1 2 Korri Kezar (Jun 23, 2017). "Dean Foods gets in on organic with juice company purchase". Dallas Business Journal. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  38. ↑ "SEC Info - Dean Foods". SEC Info. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  39. ↑ "Dean Foods Co. acquires Uncle Matt's Organic". Reuters. June 22, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  40. 1 2 Reuters (September 12, 1998). "COMPANY NEWS; SUIZA AGREES TO THE PURCHASE OF BROUGHTON FOODS". The New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  41. ↑ Jim Kinney (September 5, 2016). "Friendly's looks to grow, open restaurants, following sale of ice cream plant". Masslive.com. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  42. ↑ Crains Detroit Business Melody Farms Changes Hands http://georgeco.com/melody-farms-changes-hands-crains-detroit-business-june-23-2003/ Melody Farms Changes Hands Check |url= value (help). Retrieved January 4, 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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