Barbara Harfmann

Queens and Staten Island merged with New York City. The Bronx Zoo opened. The inventor of basketball, Dr. James Naismith, was coaching Kansas University’s new basketball team. AND in 1899, Dairy Foods (via its predecessor Dairy Record) was established. 

From running the pasteurizer to pumping fresh milk to adding the all-important starter culture to putting the cheese in forms and pressing it down, Master Cheesemaker Tony Hook is hands-on when crafting 70 flavors of aged cheddars, blues and mixed milk cheeses that bear the name of Hook’s Cheese.

While family-run Hook’s Cheese only has seven full-time employees, this 8,500-square-foot cheesemaking plant — originally built as a livery stable to the Washington Hotel in 1875 and is on the National Register of Historic Places — has transcended history as one of the first cheese companies in Wisconsin to perfect the art and science of mixed milk cheeses.

In the dairy industry, inclusions commonly add color, taste, and texture to premium ice cream — think chunks of cookie dough, swirls of caramel, and slivers of nuts and cherries — and yogurt with its now popular “sidecar” packaging. 

In the 1967 musical “Doctor Doolittle,” Rex Harrison in the title role sings about being a “reluctant but sincere vegetarian,” as he hears piglet Gub-Gub’s squeals as sausage and bacon sizzle over an open flame.

Sanitation on dairy farms and in dairy plants is a top priority with heat exchangers ensuring that raw milk is properly pasteurized and safe for human consumption without bacteria like E coli and salmonella. 

Eric Garr, Regional Sales Manager, Food Safety, Checkweighing, and Contaminant Detection Specialist at Fortress Technology, has been with the company for 18 years, starting off as a Field Service Technician before advancing to his current role. 

Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. 

Welcome to the Dairy Top 100, Dairy Foods’ industry-leading list of the Top 100 dairy companies/dairy processors in North America.

“The Heat is On” is an upbeat song recorded by Glenn Frey for the 1984 movie, “Beverly Hills Cop,”  which starred a 23-year-old Eddie Murphy as a street-smart Detroit detective who visits Beverly Hills, Calif., to solve the murder of his best friend. In the world of dairy operations, heat exchangers are “bringing the heat” and “solving” pasteurization and sterilization challenges in raw milk, making it safe to drink and extending the shelf life of milk, yogurt, creamers, and more.