Purity Dairies

Last updated
Purity Dairies
Subsidiary
Industry Dairy
Founded1926, as Ezell's Dairy [1]
Headquarters Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Key people
Mark Ezell, president
Number of employees
500+
Parent Dean Foods
Website www.puritydairies.com

Purity Dairies, formerly known as Ezell's Dairy, is a Nashville, Tennessee, United States, based dairy company operated by the Ezell family. [2] [3] [1] It provides products throughout Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky. The company is owned by and operates as a subsidiary of Dean Foods and their products includes milk, cultures, and ice cream, orange juice, lemonade, tea and water, and it is one of the last distributors of the Nutty Buddy ice cream cone. [1] [4] [5] [6] They also once had a partnership deal for home delivery through Plumgood Foods, a now defunct grocery delivery company.

Contents

History

In 1926, Dr. C.N. Cowden sold his dairy farm to Miles Ezell after he had rented it for a year, and it was named Ezell's Dairy. By the 1940s, many local dairies had closed due to the requirement of pasteurization, and Ezell's Dairy was one of the few that remained. In 1945, the farm was shut down, but Ezell obtained a small business loan, bought the Green Vale milk plant on Murfreesboro Road, and merged with Rosebank Dairies. In 1946, the company was formally incorporated as Purity Dairies. [1] Albert Gasser joined the company as President and helped Purity become the dominant milk producer in middle Tennessee.[ citation needed ]

Purity at one time promoted itself as a provider of "Golden Gernsey" milk. Later, it stressed its "GoldenFlake" buttermilk and won national awards with the product. Purity was one of the first to use HEPA filtration in its cottage cheese production area and this helped to dramatically improve the shelf life of the product. It was the first to use wax-free paper packaging and opaque gallon containers for milk. Purity was also known for creative advertising and used Jim Varney in a series of ads that helped to expand its market penetration, with his character of Ernest P. Worrell becoming an icon in the advertising world. [7] [8] [9]

A sales force was established in the mid-1950s with one man, Tom Pugh, initially becoming the entire force. The force was later expanded to include several other sales professionals who were instrumental in expanding Purity's market share with area retailers.

In the late 1980s in a collaboration with Blue Bell creameries, Purity expanded its line to include an ice cream that became the best seller in the area.[ citation needed ]

In 1998, the company was purchased by Dean Foods. [1] Members of the Ezell family, one of the founders, are still involved in the management of Purity Dairies.

Related Research Articles

Jim Varney American actor and comedian

James Albert Varney Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his broadly comedic role as Ernest P. Worrell, appearing in numerous television commercial advertising campaigns and films and for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award. He played Jed Clampett in a film adaptation of The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) and performed the voice of Slinky Dog in Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999). He died of lung cancer in 2000.

Braums American restaurant chain

Braum's is an American family-owned restaurant chain based in Tuttle, Oklahoma.

HP Hood American dairy company

HP Hood LLC is an American dairy company based in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Hood was founded in 1846 in Charlestown, Massachusetts by Harvey Perley Hood. Recent company acquisitions by HP Hood have expanded its reach from predominantly New England to the broader United States. Today, the company has an annual sales revenue of about $2.2 billion.

Bulla Dairy Foods is an Australian dairy company that manufactures a national and export range of ice cream, table cream, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, and imitation cream under various brands. The business was established in 1910 and subsequently became a partnership among three inter-related families, who still continue to own and operate the business. The company's name was established from the origin of place in Victoria, Australia and the business has continued for more than 100 years. Bulla Dairy Foods has expanded internationally, exporting its products to more than 20 countries, as well as supplying their products nationally within Australia to supermarket retailers. The company employs more than 600 people across three manufacturing sites in Colac, Victoria, Dandenong, Victoria, and also in Mulgrave, Victoria, and a head office and distribution centre in Derrimut, Melbourne. In 2015, Bulla Dairy Foods released a new campaign with the tagline "Unfakeable" to emphasise the company's Australian heritage.

Dean Foods company

Dean Foods is an American food and beverage company and the largest dairy company in the United States. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company maintains plants and distributors in the United States. Dean Foods has 66 manufacturing facilities in 32 U.S. states and distributes its products across all 50. Its 58 brands include DairyPure, Land O'Lakes (Licensed), TruMoo, Friendly's, Mayfield, Dean's, Meadow Gold, Tuscan, T.G.Lee and Alta Dena. In November 2019, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy citing the decline in consumption of cow's milk and the growth in demand of plant milk.

Weigels convenience store chain based in Powell, Tennessee

Weigel's is a convenience store chain based in Powell, Tennessee with 68 locations in the East Tennessee region. They also own and operate Broadacre Dairy Inc, which processes milk, tea, juices, and eggnog for their convenience stores, as well as its own bakery, Red Barn Foods.

Cass-Clay or 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.

Kowloon Dairy

Kowloon Dairy Limited is one of three dairy producers in Hong Kong. It was established by George Ahwee and Rudy Choy in 1940.

Saputo Inc. Canadian dairy company

Saputo Inc. is a Montreal-based Canadian dairy company founded in 1954 by the Saputo family. Currently, Saputo 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. It is one of the top ten dairy processors in the world. After growing in its home region of Quebec, the company has expanded predominantly through mergers and acquisitions.

Sealtest Dairy brand for dairy products

Sealtest Dairy is a Good Humor-Breyers brand for dairy products. Formerly a division of National Dairy Products Corporation of Delaware, it produced milk, cream, ice cream, and lemonade. The Sealtest brand was also later used by various companies in Canada under license.

Oberweis Dairy parent company of several dairy-related and fast food restaurant operations in the midwest region of the United States

Oberweis Dairy, headquartered in North Aurora, Illinois, is the parent company of several dairy-related and fast food restaurant operations in the midwest region of the United States. Its businesses include a home delivery service available in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, which delivers traditional dairy products, including milk, ice cream, cheese, and yogurt, as well as bacon and seasonal products.

Borden (company) defunct American producer of food and beverage products

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 revenues. It was also known for its Elmer's Glue and Krazy Glue.

Mayfield Dairy

Mayfield Dairy Farms is a United States dairy products company, with its headquarters in Athens, Tennessee and additional production plants in Birmingham, Alabama, and Braselton, Georgia. Since 1990 it has been under the ownership of Dean Foods.

SmithFoods is a regional maker of dairy products, beverages, and ice cream headquartered in Orrville, Ohio. The company sells products under two major brands, Smith's and Ruggles, as well as private label brands, for both retail and wholesale distribution.

Prairie Farms Dairy American midwestern dairy cooperative

Prairie Farms Dairy is a dairy cooperative founded in Carlinville, Illinois, and headquartered 35 miles to the south in Edwardsville, Illinois, a suburb within Greater 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.

Garelick Farms

Garelick Farms, a subsidiary of Dean Foods, is a manufacturer of dairy products in the Northeastern United States. Founded in 1931, it remained owned by the Garelick family and descendants until 1997, when it was purchased by Suiza Foods, which acquired Dean Foods in 2001.

Pauls (dairy) Australian dairy brand name

Pauls is an Australian brand name for a range of dairy products. Pauls history can be traced back to 1923. The company has been known under various names, including Queensland United Foods Ltd (QUF), Pauls Ice Cream & Milk Ltd and Pauls Limited. In 1998, Pauls Limited was purchased by the Italian company Parmalat, and officially changed its name in 2003 to Parmalat Australia Ltd. The company currently has its headquarters in South Brisbane. Today, Pauls is an Australia brand name under the Parmalat umbrella.

Crowley Foods American dairy company

Crowley Foods is an American dairy company formerly based in Binghamton, New York. It has been a subsidiary of HP Hood LLC since being purchased by the company in 2004, which is headquartered in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Products provided by the company include milk, half and half, cream, cottage cheese, sour cream and yogurt. The original plant located on Conklin Avenue in Binghamton manufactured these dairy products until the acquisition by HP Hood, when certain Crowley Foods items began to be made at facilities elsewhere which were better equipped. Production at the plant ceased altogether in 2012, but the warehouse and distribution center continued to be used until 2014.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Company Overview of Purity Dairies, Inc". Bloomberg. March 5, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  2. ↑ Markley, Jordan (July 13, 2011). "Purity Dairies and the war on chocolate milk". Nashville Business Journal. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Remembering Rutherford: Jersey butter led to 'Dairying Center of the South'". Daily News Journal. September 28, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  4. ↑ Knipple, A.; Knipple, P. (2013). Farm Fresh Tennessee. Southern Gateways Guides. University of North Carolina Press. p. 116. ISBN   978-1-4696-0775-7 . Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  5. ↑ Dairy Field. Cummins Publishing Company. 1988. p. 21. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  6. ↑ "America's favorite frozen treats had some cool beginnings". Seattlepi.com. August 6, 2003. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Ernest's transition from TV to film". EW.com. April 13, 1990. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  8. ↑ Baird, Sarah (March 15, 2017). "How Jim Varney and His Redneck Alter Ego Built a Lasting Legacy". MEL Magazine. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  9. ↑ "The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee on November 13, 1982 · Page 5". Newspapers.com. November 13, 1982. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.