Many of today’s dairy processing companies are involved in the production of private label products. Quite a few of them produce products for retailers solely to use excess capacity.

Danone North America is a dairy behemoth — coming in at No. 4 on Dairy Foods’ 2020 Dairy 100 list of the largest dairy processors in North America. And it operates 13 plants to manufacture its many product lines. One of its largest — a 440,000-square-foot facility located in Minster, Ohio — is where the company produces Activia offerings, along with Danimals, Light + Fit, DanActive, Oikos, and Dannon.

Look at the website of Activia, a brand of Broomfield, Colo.- and White Plains, N.Y.-based Danone North America, and you might assume you've searched for wellness advice. The page features a tab for health professionals, as well as ones saying "What is gut health?" and "What are probiotics?"

Congress recently passed COVID-19-relief legislation that includes significant resources to help USDA provide nutritious food to families in need through the remainder of the pandemic. This has resulted in the creation of new food distribution programs, as well as changes to existing ones.

The small town of Arkansas City, Kan., also known as Ark City, is home to the Cowley County Waterfall, which Yahoo Travel included in its 2014 "Top 12 Most Beautiful Waterfalls in America" list. It is also home to a decidedly less touristy, but arguably equally fascinating, "attraction": a KanPak US dairy processing facility that employs aseptic technologies to create custom shelf-stable liquid-based products for quick-service restaurants, retail and other customers.

With no brands of its own gracing retail shelves or foodservice counters, KanPak US might not be a household name among U.S. consumers. But make no mistake: The company is a dairy processing powerhouse, coming in at No. 88 in Dairy Foods' 2021 listing of the top 100 North American dairy processors (Dairy 100).

An old adage says: "If you want something done right, do it yourself." This saying perfectly encapsulates the operations of Rutter's Dairy, which produces fluid milk along with some juice and tea products at its York, Pa.-based plant.

Production and consumption of Hispanic cheeses have grown significantly in the United States. In 2019, the United States manufactured about 333 million pounds of Hispanic cheeses versus only 206 million pounds in 2009.

Automation is increasingly becoming the answer for greater efficiencies and efficacy in dairy warehouse operations. Processors are enhancing supply chain and logistics functions and other warehousing responsibilities with technologies intended to streamline worker expenses while enhancing productivity.

York, Pa., can trace its beginnings back to 1741, when settlers from the Philadelphia region founded the city. And Rutter's Dairy, which is based in this area, has an origin story that goes back almost as far.