.Nestlé USA is North America's largest dairy processor, bumping off Dean Foods Co. which held the spot for at least half of the 20 years that Dairy Foods has been compiling the Dairy 100.

Nestlé makes packaged ice cream (including the brands Dreyer's, Edy's, Häagen-Dazs and Eskimo Pie), flavored Nesquik milk, Coffee-Mate and Natural Bliss coffee creamers and powdered beverages. Parent company Nestlé S.A., Vevey, Switzerland, reported that sales in its Americas division in 2012 were approximately $11.1 billion, coming from powdered and liquid beverages, milk products and ice cream.

This is Dairy Foods' 20th annual list of the largest processors of dairy foods and beverages based in the United States and Canada. The Dairy 100 this year is comprised of 101 dairy processors because of a tie for No. 100. These 101 companies have combined annual sales of $114.2 billion.

While No.1 Nestlé USA's revenues increased 7% from 2011 to 2012, No. 2 Dean Foods' dropped 36% because it sold its Morning Star business to No. 3 Saputo and it spun off its WhiteWave Foods business into a stand-alone operation. No. 19 WhiteWave completed an initial public offering that raised over $365 million of net equity proceeds.

Rounding out the top 10 are (in order): Schreiber Foods, Land O'Lakes Inc., Kraft Foods Global Inc., Agropur Cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America Inc., Lactalis USA and Prairie Farms Dairy. Lactalis USA cracked the top 10 due to its parent company's acquisition of Italy's Parmalat, which has a division in Canada. Lactalis USA and Parmalat Canada were listed separately in our previous report.

Nestlé is the largest publicly held processor on the list and No. 4 Schreiber Foods is the largest privately owned business. The top dairy co-op is No. 5 Land O'Lakes. Download a PDF containing details about the 101 dairy processors in the 2013 Dairy 100.

The table below shows the fastest-growing dairy processors, based on revenue growth from 2011 to 2012. The list excludes companies for which Dairy Foods estimated revenues.