Oligopoly brief: Dean Foods
Why is Silk brand soy milk suddenly available in dairy case of most supermarkets right alongside the usual cows' milk. How did the Silk product manage to steal valuable shelf space from powerful diary interests? The answer - Silk is owned by the most powerful US dairy interest of all, Dean Foods.
Dean Foods is the largest dairy product company in the United States. It is the result of a 2001 merger between Suiza, the #1 dairy company, and Dean Foods, the #2. Both companies grew through the 1980s and 1990s by acquiring regional milk companies. If you shop for milk in US, chances are good that you are drinking a brand of Dean-owned milk without knowing it.
In May 2002, the company bought out White Wave, Inc., and thus became a leader in the growing soy foods industry. White Wave owns Silk brand refrigerated soy milk as well as tofu products. Dean Food's had the leverage to get those products in the refrigerator case, and now Silk has expanded far beyond its health-food store base. Silk now reportedly has 75% of the refrigerated soy milk business. (Dean already owned another soy milk product, Sun Soy. )
Suiza had an active recent history of takeovers. In the 1990's, Suiza had taken over 40 regional dairy operations. The Dean's deal was the culmination of an amazingly rapid concentration. Among the companies and brands it took over were Pet and Borden, once national leading brands. The company also took over the Land O'Lakes brand by agreement with the nation's second largest dairy farmers' cooperative. The specific local brands of milk and milk products cover the whole country from Oak Farms in Texas to Verifine in Wisconsin, and from Meadow Gold in Hawaii to Garelick in Maine.
As noted in a report called "Large Companies Active in Dairy Industry" (Food Review, Volume 23, issue 2) :
Perhaps the most interesting note relating to U.S. proprietary dairy companies is the names that are not anywhere on our list. Companies like Borden, Sealtest, Pet, Beatrice, and Carnation, large dairy companies still in the 1070's, have gotten out of the dairy business altogether or were swallowed up by other companies.
Some thing similar, the report states happened with retailers, many of whom owned and operated their own dairies (Kroger, Safeway, 7-Eleven among them). They have wholly or in part dropped their dairies, and brought in milk produced by Dean Foods and a few other firms. Merger fever, it reports, has also come in the dairy co-operative area, where the big co-operatives keep getting bigger.
One thing Suiza got with its merger with Dean's is a whole line of shelf-stable products, including pickles, sauces, canned nutrition drinks, and syrups. These non-perishable products are managed by a separate division of the company. It will be interesting to see if the company holds on to these assets, expands them with new acquisitions, or sells them off to a company that can exploit them better.
Dean Foods Brands
| Category |
Brand |
| Milk and cream |
Adohr Farms, AltaDena, Barbe's, Barber's, Berkeley Farms, Borden, Broughton, Brown's Dairy, Celta, Country Delite, Country Fresh, Creamland, Dairy Ease, Dairy Fresh, Dean Foods Ultra, Dean's, Foremost, Gandy's, Garelick, Hershey's Milk*, Hygeia, Land O'Lakes, Lehigh Valley Dairies, Louis Trauth, Mayfield Dairy, McArthur Dairy, Meadow Brook, Meadow Gold, Model Dairy, Oak Farms, PET, Price's, Purity, Reiter, Robinson Dairy, Schinkel's, Schepps, Shenandoah's Pride, Swiss Farms, T.G. Lee, Tuscan, Verifine |
| Milk-based beverages |
Folger's Jakada*, Milk Chug, Kidmilk |
| Juice and water |
AltaDena, Barbe's, Barber's, Berkeley Farms, Borden, Broughton,, Brown's Dairy, Celta, Country Delite, Country Fresh, Dairy Fresh, Dean's, Foremost, Gandy's, Garelick, Land O'Lakes, Lehigh Valley Dairies, Louis Trauth, Mayfield Dairy, McArthur Dairy, Meadow Brook, Model Dairy, Oak Farms, PET, Price's, Purity, Reiter, Robinson Dairy, Schinkel's, Schepps, Swiss Farms, T.G. Lee, Tuscan, Verifine |
| Ice Cream |
AltaDena, Brown's Dairy, Country Fresh, Creamland, Dairy Fresh, Dean's, Frostbite, Hygeia, Louis Trauth, Mayfield Farms, Meadow Gold, Oak Farms, Pet, Reiter |
| Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, and Sour Cream |
Borden, Broughton, Cheese ;n Stuff, Country Fresh, Dairy Fresh, Dean's, Hygeia, Land O'Lakes, Louis Trauth, Meadow Gold, Mountain High, Naturally Yours, Oak Farms, PET, Purity, Robinson Dairy, Rod's, Schepps |
| Fresh Dips and Dressings |
Borden, Broughton, Dean's, Dipzz, Louis Trauth, Marie's, Meadow Gold, Meadow Brook, Oak Farms, PET, Purity, Rod's |
| Coffee Creamers (liquid, non-dairy) |
Adohr Farms, AltaDena, Barbe's, Berkeley Farms, Borden, Broughton,, Brown's Dairy, Coffee Rich, Country Fresh, Dairy Fresh,.Dean Foods Ultra, Dean's, Farm Rich, Garelick, International Delight, Land O'Lakes, Lehigh Valley Dairies, Louis Trauth, Mayfield Dairy, McArthur Dairy, Meadow Gold, Mocha Mix, Model Dairy, Oak Farms, PET, Purity, Reiter, Robinson Dairy, Rod's, Schinkel's, Schepps, Shenandoah's Pride, Tuscan |
| Soy products (milk, tofu, cultured soy) |
Silk, Sun Soy, White Wave |
| Pickles/ Relish/ Jarred Peppers |
Peter Piper's, Farman's, Nally, Steinfeld's, Heifetz, Schwartz (food service), over 80% of the store brand pickle business in US |
| Green Olives |
Roddenbery's |
| Coffee Creamers (powder, non-dairy) |
Flavor Charm, store brands |
| Instant breakfast |
Morning Sun, store brands |
| Sauces/Dips |
Gracias, Hoffman House, Bennetts, Indian Trail, Thank You |
| Puddings |
Gracias, Thank You |
| Nutrition drinks |
Bonus, Subtract, Healthy Shake |
| Syrup |
Roddenbery's, Northwoods, Cane Path, Flapjack, Happy Kids, Country Maid, Oh Boy!, Old Plantation | * Licensed brands
7:24:12 PM 
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