Newswire
Green Bay, Wis.-based Schreiber Foods Inc. will close a cream cheese processing facility in north St. Louis that was formerly part of Raskas Foods, which Schreiber acquired in 2002. The closure, planned for this summer, will impact 220 employees. Production will gradually move to other facilities. Schreiber reports the plant, which is leased, was in need of extensive renovations to improve its operating margins.
Baraboo, Wis.-based Foremost
Farms USA closed its 10th year of operation
at the end of 2004 with all-time highs in sales and earnings. New income
after taxes was $28.3 million, compared to $7.6 million in 2003. The
cooperative posted sales of $1.4 billion, compared to $1.2 billion in 2003.
In a year that served declining light ice cream sales
for most manufacturers, Oakland, Calif.-based Dreyer’s
Grand Ice Cream Holdings Inc. has announced a 68
percent sales growth of its light ice cream business in 2004 with the
launch of Dreyer’s Slow Churned Light Ice Cream, an improved
version of Dreyer’s top-selling ice cream formally called
Dreyer’s Grand Light®.
San Antonio-based H.E. Butt
Grocery Co. (H-E-B) has partnered with Grupo
Industrial Lala, the largest dairy producer in Mexico, to manufacture and
sell exclusively in its stores milk, chocolate milk, yogurt and sour cream.
The brand is already in about 106 H-E-B stores. The grocer is celebrating
its 100th anniversary
this year.
Kansas City, Mo.-based Dairy
Farmers of America Inc. (DFA), has reported
financial results for 2004 that include record payments to members, record
revenues and a sixth consecutive year of member patronage payouts. For the
fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2004, DFA payments to members increased 29
percent to a record $5.8 billion, up from $4.5 billion in 2003. DFA also
reported record revenues of $8.49 billion on sales, up from $6.93 billion
in 2003, for an increase of 23 percent. DFA marketed 57.2 billion pounds of
milk for member and non-member dairy farmers in 2004.
Saputo Inc., Canada, has
entered into an agreement to acquire from Fromage Cote S.A. and
Distributions Kingsey Inc. the manufacturing, marketing and distribution
activities for the company’s pressed cheddar and cheddar cheese curd,
Swiss-type cheese and other specialty cheeses sold under the brand names
Kingsey, Princesse, Sir Laurier d’Arthabaska and Du Village de
Warwick. The transaction is anticipated to close this month.
Kemps plans to move its
headquarters from Minneapolis to St. Paul, Minn. The move will unite under
one roof the 110 corporate employees who are currently working in two
offices in Minneapolis; more than 200 plant and distribution workers will
remain at the company’s facilities in Minneapolis. To facilitate the
move of its administrative staff, Kemps — purchased last year by HP
Hood — is expected to seek a grant of up to $200,000 through St. Paul
Strategic Investment Fund, which is aimed at luring companies to the city.
West Valley City, Utah-based Winder Dairy has received a
substantial investment from two private investment firms, Dolphin II and
Peterson Partners. The new partnership will allow Winder Dairy to expand
its operations within its current markets and to the western United States,
as well as offer an expanded product line, the company says.
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