Stonyfield Europe, a new organic dairy firm co-owned by Londonderry, N.H.-based Stonyfield Farm Inc. and Paris-based Groupe Danone (majority owner of Stonyfield Farm), has announced acquisition of more than one-third of Irish organic dairy manufacturer Glenisk just as its own creation was announced by Groupe Danone and Stonyfield Farm. Stonyfield Europe, headed by Stonyfield Farm president Gary Hirshberg, will operate as an independent entity within Groupe Danone’s Fresh Dairy Products business line. Hirshberg tells the Associated Press his goal is to double Glenisk’s manufacturing capacity, offer new recipes and provide ideas to enhance it sales and marketing. The Glenisk name will be kept on products.

Green Bay, Wis.-based Schreiber Foods Inc. has completed construction of a new 150,000-square-foot distribution center in Carthage, Mo. The new facility became fully operational last month.

Le Mars, Iowa-based Wells’ Dairy Inc. has announced plans to sell its $55 million ice cream plant in St. George, Utah, to a financial entity and then lease the facility from the new owner. Company spokeswoman Lesley Bartholomew said the sale will not affect operations at the 160,000-square-foot plant in St. George, which employs about 70 people. The arrangement is similar to the one Wells has for its new corporate headquarters complex under construction in Le Mars.

Plymouth, Wis.-based Sartori Food Corp. will acquire The Antigo Cheese Co. in Antigo, Wis., and The Blackfoot Cheese Co. in Blackfoot, Idaho, both employee-owned manufacturers of aged Italian cheese.

The Association of Food Industries (AFI) marked its 100th anniversary with a gala celebration July 8 at the Roosevelt Hotel, N.Y. AFI, with approximately 1,000 member companies worldwide today, was formed in April 1906 in New York.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published a final rule to revise the National Organic Program (NOP) regulations and implement 2005 amendments to the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, incorporating input from Washington, D.C.-based International Dairy Foods Association. The final rule says non-organically produced products may be used as ingredients in processed products labeled as “organic” only when such organic products are not commercially available. The final rule sets a June 9, 2007, deadline for eliminating the “80/20” feed provision, which allows dairy producers to use 20 percent non-organic feed during the first nine months of a one-year herd conversion from conventional to organic production.

Addressing a packed audience in the U.S. House Agriculture Room on Capitol Hill in June, IDFA staff members conducted a briefing for congressional personnel interested in dairy and agriculture issues. IDFA chief economist Dr. Bob Yonkers outlined the structural changes experienced by the dairy industry over the past quarter century, while IDFA senior vice president Chip Kunde discussed the industry’s future challenges and opportunities. For more information, visit, www.idfa.org.