Dean Foods

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Dean Foods
Type Public
Traded as NYSE: DF
S&P 500 Component
Industry Food processing
Founded 1925
Headquarters Dallas, Texas
Key people Gregg L. Engles, CEO & Chairman of the Board
Shaun Mara, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President
Blaine McPeak, President/Chief Executive Officer of Whitewave Foods
Gregg Tanner, President of Fresh Dairy Direct and Chief Supply Chain Officer
Products Milk, Dairy Products
Revenue

Decrease $ 11.462 billion (FY 2012)

[1]
Operating income Increase $ 427.79 million (FY 2011)[1]
Net income Increase $ 161.04 million (FY 2012)[1]
Total assets Decrease $ 5.687 billion (FY 2012)[1]
Total equity Increase $ 357.19 million (FY 2012)[1]
Employees 21,915 (December 2012)[1]
Website www.deanfoods.com

Dean Foods is an American food and beverage company that includes the brands Fresh Dairy Direct and WhiteWave-Morningstar.[2] The company maintains plants and distributors in the United States and the United Kingdom.[3]

Contents

History[edit]

Dean Foods was founded by Samuel E. Dean who owned an evaporated milk processing facility in Franklin Park, Illinois in the 1920s.[4] After purchasing other Illinois dairy plants Dean developed the enterpise "from a small regional dairy into a diversified food company".[3] Dean Foods' attempted merger with a Chicago dairy but was blocked due to antitrust concerns addressed in a 1966 decision by the Supreme Court decision called Federal Trade Commission v. Dean Foods Co..[citation needed]

In 2001, the company was sued by seven former employees, who alleged the company failed to protect them from the harassment of other employees between 1993 and 2000. The case was settled in May 2003 with a $3.3 million out-of-court settlement.[5] In December 2001, Dean Foods was acquired by the Dallas-based Suiza Foods Corporation who later adopted the Dean Foods name.[6] Shareholders filed a lawsuit against Dean Foods in 2003, alleging they underpaid in their agreement to acquire Horizon Organic Holding Corp. Dean Foods settled with the shareholders in May 2007.[5]

In August 2006, Dean Foods acquired Jilbert's Dairy, a 70 year old family business near Marquette, Michigan.[7] 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.[8] Dean Foods purchased Alpro in 2009 for an estimated US$455 million, making it a "global leader in soy beverages".[9] This resulted in a restructuring of the company that included selling off a number of subsidiaries, including Rachel's Organic.[10]

On May 12, 2008, the Cornucopia Institute filed a complaint with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) declaring that Deans Foods violated federal organic regulations requiring access to pasture and fresh grass for their dairy cows. Allegations from the federal agency[who?] were dismissed.[11]

Dean Foods headquarters at Cityplace Center, Dallas

In 2009, the company was criticized by independent farmers who called it a monopolistic food broker.[12] In the fall, St. Paul Pioneer Press reported the Cornucopia Institute had made complaints to the U.S. Department of Agriculture accusing Silk producer Dean Foods and its WhiteWave Foods division of shifting their products away from organics without properly notifying retailers or consumers.[13][14] According to the Star Telegram, 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 Silk product packaging.[15]

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.[16] In January 2010, the US Department of Justice and the state attorney generals office of Wisconsin and Michigan, filed a law suit objecting to the purchase and alleged that it created a monopolizing provider.[17] Dean Foods announced it was contesting the complaint.[18] The company moved to Cityplace Center in the Cityplace district in the first quarter of 2010.[19][20] In October, 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.[20][21]

In 2011, a class action suit was brought against Deans Foods over health claims made on the packaging of Horizon Organic Milk.[22] 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.[23][24]

Dean Foods has 100 facilities located in 35 American states as well as five manufacturing plants in the countries of Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.[9] The Dean Foods Corporation owns division companies in U.S. states of Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.[citation needed]

Products[edit]

Dean Foods products include frozen and canned foods, dairy products and condiments. It produces soy milk in the United States under the name Dean Foods and (Sun Soy). Its organic milk is marketed under the brand Horizon Organic. White Wave Foods is the distributor for the brands Silk soy milk, Horizon Organics, International Delight and some Land O'Lakes and Stōk products. In addition, Dean Foods owns Alta Dena, Barbe's, Barber's, Berkeley Farms, Borden, Broughton Foods Company, Brown's Dairy, Country Fresh, Creamland, Dairy Ease, Gandy's, Garelick Farms, Jilbert's Dairy, Lehigh Valley Dairy Farms, Liberty Dairy, Louis Trauth, Mayfield Dairy, McArthur Dairy, Meadow Brook, Meadow Gold, Model Dairy, Oak Farms, PET Dairy, Price's, Purity, Reiter, Robinson Dairy, Schenkel's, Shenandoah's Pride, Schepps, Swiss Farms (formerly Wengert's Dairy of Lebanon, Pennsylvania), T.G. Lee, and Tuscan Dairy Farms.[citation needed] The Company licenses the Land O'Lakes brand, which markets dairy products.[25]

See also[edit]

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Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Dean Foods, Form 10-K, Annual Report, Filing Date Feb 27, 2013". secdatabase.com. Retrieved Apr 12, 2013. 
  2. ^ "About Us." Dean Foods. Retrieved on August 2, 2009.
  3. ^ a b http://www.deanfoods.com/our-company/about-us/brief-history.aspx
  4. ^ Company profile at Reuters.com
  5. ^ a b Responsible Shopper profile for Dean Foods, coopamerica.org, 2007.
  6. ^ Dean Foods Annual Report
  7. ^ Report on acquisition of Jilbert's Dairy by Dean Foods, allbusiness.com
  8. ^ Wells' Dairy to sell milk plant to Dean Foods, Des Moines Register, 22 December 2007.
  9. ^ a b "Deans Foods Buys Alpro", Dallas Business Journal, 6 July 2009.
  10. ^ "French company buys dairy company Rachel's". BBC News. 2010-07-28. Retrieved 28 July 2010. 
  11. ^ Search results[dead link] at galegroup.com
  12. ^ Burnett, John. "Independent Farmers Feel Squeezed By Milk Cartel", All Things Considered, National Public Radio. 20 August 2009.
  13. ^ "Organic In Origin? A Wisconsin Consumer Watchdog Charges That Target Is Falsely Advertising Its Silk Soy Milk As Organic; The Maker And Target Say Both Natural And Organic Products Occupy Stores' Shelves.", St. Paul Pioneer Press, 21 October 2009, p.A7.
  14. ^ "Off Target — Major Retailer Accused of Organic Improprieties State and Federal Complaints Allege Mislabeling", Cornucopia Institute, 20 October 2009.
  15. ^ "Grocers Irked to Find Out Soy Milk Not Organic"[dead link], Star Telegram.
  16. ^ Barrett, Rick. ""Dean Foods acquires Waukesha, De Pere milk-processing plants." Journal Sentinel. April 2, 2009. Retrieved on February 16, 2010.
  17. ^ "Justice Department Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Dean Foods Company", US Department of Justice, January 2010.
  18. ^ Dean Foods to Vigorously Contest Justice Department Complaint, DeanFoods.com, January 2010.
  19. ^ Hethcock, Bill. "Dean Foods to relocate corporate office." Dallas Business Journal. Monday June 8, 2009. Retrieved on August 2, 2009.
  20. ^ a b Wilonsky, Robert (October 13, 2010). "So Dean Foods Is Eliminating the 'Schepps' Name in Dallas. Well, That Doesn't Seem Right.". Dallas Observer. Retrieved October 14, 2010. 
  21. ^ 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. 
  22. ^ "Dean Foods sued for Horizon milk's health claims - Chicago Tribune". articles.chicagotribune.com. 2012 [last update]. Retrieved March 9, 2012. 
  23. ^ Author Unknown, (August 2012) Elections 2012 KCET
  24. ^ Unknown Author (August 21, 2012) Funding For and Against Prop 37 Los Angeles Times, accessed Dec 16, 2012
  25. ^ Company Product Website [1] Retrieved July 13, 2012.

External links[edit]

Dean Foods
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