An expert in marketing premium products told dairy processors that they are underpricing their products. The essence of his message to dairy owners and executives was: “You guys are not charging nearly enough for the products you sell. You are leaving money on the table.”

Mitchell Goozé, the president and founder of Customer Manufacturing Group, Santa Clara, Calif., was the keynote speaker at the “Refillable Dairy Workshop” held in Houston in May. This event was created and sponsored by Stanpac, a maker of packaging (including glass milk bottles) for dairy products. (The ice cream package shown uses the company's new SecurTec 100 composite tamper-evident lid.)

Goozé's business experience ranges from operations management in established firms to start-up and turn-around situations and mergers. For years he has used his "Who, What and How" assessment methods to help companies define what their customers are buying that they can't get from anyone else.

Prior to the workshop, Goozé interviewed several dairies, researched their businesses and products and visited a dairy to see first-hand what it was all about. Then he tailored his presentation specifically to the participants.

Dairies from throughout the United States and Canada came to the two-day event to discuss topics related to processing, distributing and marketing dairy products in refillable bottles.

The workshop focused on several themes to provide insight and help gain knowledge on processing equipment, farm stores, the home delivery business, employee training and marketing premium products.

Other sessions, led by Agri Service LLC, related to equipment selection and processing. Milk processors Winder Farms and AB Munroe Dairy led sessions about current home delivery trends and how to run a profitable retail outlet.

Stanpac Vice President of Marketing Murray Bain said the dairy processors found the meeting to be "invaluable" and that they want to meet again next year.