Litehouse CEO Frank talks to Dairy Foods about the challenges of heading an employee-owned business; achieving SQF Level 3 certification; and growth plans.
Litehouse Inc. President and CEO Jim Frank is the first nonfamily member to head the Idaho-based manufacturer of refrigerated salad dressings and blue-veined cheeses. In this interview, he talks about the challenges of running this employee-owned dairy business.
Schuman Cheese, Fairfield, N.J., said it will label its Parmesan cheese products with a seal to verify product quality and manufacturing integrity. The move follows widely covered news reports of adulteration and fraud by some companies.
The International Dairy Foods Association honored 137 dairy company operations with Dairy Industry Safety Recognition Awards and Achievement Certificates. It is the 13th year that IDFA has sponsored the program, which highlights outstanding worker safety records of U.S. dairy companies.
Litehouse makes award-winning blue cheese and buttermilk at separate plants in Sandpoint, Idaho, then combines them at a third to make its best-selling refrigerated salad dressings.
Ed Hawkins invented a blue cheese buttermilk salad dressing that he served in his steakhouse. When customers asked if they could buy a bottle to take home, he knew it was a hit.
With raw milk prices low and demand for cheese, yogurt and other dairy foods high, America’s dairy processors are opening up their checkbooks to buy new equipment. A survey by BNP Market Research (Dairy Foods’ research arm) found that 56% of dairy processors are buying equipment this year and 60% plan to buy in 2017.
Idaho-based Litehouse Inc. makes award-winning blue cheeses, yogurt and buttermilk. The employee-owned dairy processor uses these ingredients in its top-selling line of refrigerated salad dressings.
The city of Sandpoint (population 7,500) is in the skinny part of Idaho, wedged between Washington and Montana, and about an hour south of the Canadian border. Sandpoint is the seat of Bonner County which, at 1,920 square miles, is larger than the entire state of Rhode Island. When the Dixie Chicks sing of “Wide Open Spaces,” they could be referring to this part of Idaho.
The portfolio of Lala U.S. includes Lala yogurt smoothies, Promised Land milk and cream products, Borden cultured products, Frusion smoothies, Skim Plus milk and Nordica cottage cheese.
August 29, 2016
Grupo Lala, a dairy company headquartered in Mexico, today announced a new division named Lala U.S., headquartered in Dallas. The move is expected to strengthen ties with retailers and consumers.