Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Agriculture |
Predecessor | Associated Milk Producers, Inc.; Mid-America Dairymen, Inc.; Milk Marketing, Inc.; and Western Dairymen Cooperative, Inc. |
Founded | 1998 |
Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Dennis Rodenbaugh (president and CEO) |
Revenue | US$13.6 billion (2018) US$14.7 billion (2017) [1] |
US$131.8 million (2016) | |
Number of employees | 18,000 |
Website | dfamilk.com |
Dairy Farmers of America Inc. (DFA) is a national milk marketing cooperative in the United States. DFA markets members' raw milk and sells milk and derivative products (dairy products, food components, ingredients and shelf-stable dairy products) to wholesale buyers both domestically and abroad. Net sales in 2016 were $13.5 billion, representing about 22 percent of raw milk production in the United States. [2]
DFA was formed in 1998 through the merger of four dairy cooperatives: the Southern region of Associated Milk Producers Inc.; Mid-America Dairymen Inc.; Milk Marketing Inc.; and Western Dairymen Cooperative Inc. [3] Since then, five other cooperatives have become a part of DFA – Independent Cooperative Milk Producers Association, Valley of Virginia Milk Producers Association, California Cooperative Creamery, Black Hills Milk Producers and Dairylea Cooperative Inc. [4] [5] [6] [7] Its headquarters from 1998 until 2017 was near Kansas City International Airport in Kansas City, Missouri. [8]
In 2011, DFA acquired Kemps of St. Paul, Minnesota, and its subsidiaries from HP Hood. [9] In 2014, DFA acquired Oakhurst, [10] and Dairylea Cooperative Inc. merged with the farmer-owned Cooperative. DFA became the sole owner of America Buys kemps in 2015, [11] which was once a partnership between DFA and Fonterra Co-operative Group Unlimited. DFA also acquired Cumberland Dairy, a processor of ultra-pasteurized dairy products, in 2017. [12]
In February 2020, DFA agreed to buy Dean Foods, the largest U.S. milk producer for $433 million. As part of the deal, DFA would acquire 44 of Dean's plants. In May 2020 that deal was finalized and the acquisition was completed. [13]
In 2008, the Dairy Farmers of America and two former executives agreed to pay $12 million to settle Commodity Futures Trading Commission charges for attempting to manipulate the Class III milk futures contract and exceeding speculative position limits in that contract. [14]
The Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) is a farmer-owned dairy cooperative headquartered in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The association manufactures and sells dairy products under the "Tillamook" brand name. Its main facility is the Tillamook Creamery, located two miles north of the city of Tillamook on U.S. Route 101.
Glanbia plc is an Irish multinational nutrition company that owns several consumer brands that produce lifestyle products such as food supplements and ingredients businesses. Glanbia is headquartered in Kilkenny, Ireland with over 5,500 employees in over 30 countries around the world. Glanbia’s consumer brands and ingredients are sold or distributed in over 130 countries. North America is the company’s largest market, and it also has a presence in Europe, Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Glanbia's primary listing is on Euronext Dublin. Glanbia comprises three divisions: Glanbia Nutritionals, Glanbia Performance Nutrition and Joint Ventures.
Land O'Lakes, Inc. is an American member-owned agricultural cooperative based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb of Arden Hills, Minnesota, United States, focusing on the dairy industry. The cooperative has 1,959 direct producer-members, 751 member-cooperatives, and about 9,000 employees who process and distribute products for about 300,000 agricultural producers, handling 12 billion pounds of milk annually. It is ranked third on the National Cooperative Bank Co-op 100 list of mutuals and cooperatives. The co-op is one of the largest producers of butter and cheese in the United States through its dairy foods business; serves producers, animal owners and their families through more than 4,700 local cooperatives, independent dealers and other large retailers through its Purina Animal Nutrition business; and delivers seed, crop protection products, agricultural services and agronomic insights to 1,300 locally owned and operated cooperative and independent agricultural retailers and their grower customers through its WinField United business.
An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a producer cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activities.
Borden Dairy Company is an American dairy processor and distributor headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Established in 2009, the company is a successor to the original Borden Company established in 1857 by Gail Borden. The company is a former subsidiary of Dean Foods.
Dean Foods was an American food and beverage company and the largest dairy company in the United States. The company's products included milk, ice cream, dairy products, cheese, juice, and teas. It processed milk in the United States under a number of regional and national brands. Founded in 1925, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019, and its assets were acquired by several buyers in 2020.
Cass-Clay Creamery is a creamery headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded in 1934 in neighboring Moorhead, Minnesota. Its present-day headquarters are at 200 20th St North in Fargo. It manufactures dairy products such as milk, cream, butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt and ice cream. It also manufactured dips and juices.
Saputo Inc. is a Canadian dairy company based in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1954 by the Saputo family. It produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products and dairy ingredients and is one of the top ten dairy processors in the world.
Borden, Inc., was an American producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. At one time, the company was the largest U.S. producer of dairy and pasta products. Its food division, Borden Foods, was based in Columbus, Ohio, and focused primarily on pasta and pasta sauces, bakery products, snacks, processed cheese, jams and jellies, and ice cream. It was best known for its Borden Ice Cream, Meadow Gold milk, Creamette pasta, and Borden Condensed Milk brands. Its consumer products and industrial segment marketed wallpaper, adhesives, plastics and resins. By 1993, sales of food products accounted for 67 percent of its revenue. It was also known for its Elmer's and Krazy Glue brands.
Dairylea Cooperative Inc. was a dairy cooperative which was founded in 1907 as The Dairymen's League when group of dairy farmers in Orange County, New York united to increase their bargaining power. In the 1920s, the Cooperative's membership had increased to more than 100,000 farms. While based initially in Pearl River, New York, the organization was most recently headquartered in East Syracuse, New York. They renamed themselves after their most famous product, Dairylea Milk. It was formerly named Dairyman's League Co-Operative Association, and changed its name to its present one in 1969.
Grupo Lala is a Mexican food processing company founded in 1949 in Torreón, Coahuila. The company is headquartered in Gómez Palacio, Durango. Together with its acquisition of Dairy Farmers of America subsidiary National Dairy is one of the largest dairy companies in the world.
Organic Valley (OV) is an organic food brand and independent cooperative of organic farmers based in La Farge, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1988 and it is the largest farmer owned organic collective in North America.
Pet, Inc. was an American company that was the first to commercially produce evaporated milk as a shelf-stable consumer product with its "PET Milk" brand. While evaporated milk was popular before refrigerators were common in homes, sales peaked in the 1950s and it is now a niche product used in baking and as a cooking ingredient.
Prairie Farms Dairy is a dairy cooperative founded in Carlinville, Illinois, and now headquartered in Edwardsville, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis. As a dairy cooperative, Prairie Farms receives milk from producers and converts it into many different products, including cheese, butter, ice cream, sour cream, cottage cheese, various dips, yogurt, and fluid milk. Prairie Farms also produces and sells juices, flavored drinks, and pre-made iced tea.
Oakhurst Dairy is a dairy company headquartered at 364 Forest Avenue in Portland, Maine, United States. It produces primarily dairy products as well as juices. Founded in 1918, it made headlines in 2003 when it was sued by agribusiness giant Monsanto over Oakhurst's label on its milk cartons that said "Our farmer's pledge: no artificial hormones," referring to the use of bovine somatotropin (rBST), a drug that increases milk production and that Monsanto sells. Monsanto argued that the label implied that Oakhurst milk was superior to milk from cows treated with rBST, which harmed Monsanto's business. Oakhurst was sold to Dairy Farmers of America, a national milk marketing cooperative based in Kansas City, Missouri in January 2014.
Kemps is an American dairy company located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. It has been a subsidiary of Dairy Farmers of America since being purchased in 2011 from HP Hood LLC. Dairy Farmers of America is based in Kansas City, Missouri, but Kemps continues to be headquartered in St. Louis Park. Products provided by the company include milk, cottage cheese, half and half, egg nog, cream, juices, sour cream, chip dips, ice cream, yogurt and novelties. Most of these products are sold at grocery stores throughout the midwestern United States, but some are available in other parts of the country as well. Kemps currently operates five manufacturing facilities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.
The Bega Group is an Australian diversified food and drinks company with manufacturing sites in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria. Founded as an agricultural cooperative in the town of Bega, New South Wales by their dairy suppliers, it became a public company in 2011 when it listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Close to half of shares publicly traded are still held by Bega's farmer-suppliers. It is currently one of the largest companies in the dairy sector in Australia, with a base milk supply in 2018 of approximately 750 million litres per annum.