Agri-Mark is a dairy cooperative with 1,200 members in the Northeast United States. It markets 3.5 billion pounds of milk annually, supplying fluid milk to HP Hood, Dairy Farmers of America, Dean Foods and other dairy processors. Agri-Mark also operates four processing plants of its own with two in Vermont (Cabot and Middlebury, that make cheese, cultured products and ingredients), one in West Springfield, Mass. (butter, cream and ingredients) and one in Chateaugay, N.Y. (cheese). The co-op owns the Cabot and McCadam brands. (See related article)
Dairy Foods toured the Cabot, Vt., facility, where Agri-Mark processes about 1 million pounds of milk daily. “We’re tiny” compared to other cheesemakers, said Regional Plant Manager Marcel G. Gravel. The plant produces Cheddar and specialty cheeses, yogurt and sour cream.