Whole Foods stores in the Rocky Mountain area may quit carrying gallons of milk from Horizon Organic to make way for the retailer's own private label gallons, according to a report from the Rocky Mountain News.

Whole Foods stores in the Rocky Mountain area may quit carrying gallons of milk from Horizon Organic to make way for the retailer's own private label gallons, according to a report from theRocky Mountain News. Stores will still carry the other sizes of Horizon Organic milk, as well as the company's full line of other dairy products, said Scott Simons, spokesman for Austin-based Whole Foods Markets Inc.

"The bottom line is that there's only so much shelf space in our stores," Simons told the paper. But another factor is that as demand for organic milk continues to outpace supply, retailers are turning to private label as a way to ensure they'll have adequate supply. Sources say the industry is producing about 80% of demand. A spokeswoman for Wild Oats Markets Inc. in Boulder, says Wild Oats sells its own private brand of organic milk as well as Horizon Organic and Organic Valley brand and that private label has kept the company from running out of organic milk during peak Spring supply crunches.