Saputo Inc. reported a steep drop in its third-quarter earnings last month as lower cheese prices and a high Canadian dollar ate into its U.S. revenue. But CEO Lino Saputo said the entire dairy industry in the United States is stressed by weak markets and high commodity prices.

Bravo! Foods has signed a five-year agreement with a California company for production of its various lines of shelf-stable, single-serve flavored milk beverages. Aseptic Solutions USA, Corona, Calif., expects to receive FDA approval to produce aseptic low acid shelf-stable dairy products in HDPE plastic bottles by the year's end.

California water regulators last month announced a revised tentative settlement agreement with Hilmar Cheese Co. The reconfigured $3 million pact, if approved by members of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, will resolve long-standing waste water disposal problems attributed to Hilmar's giant plant.

IDFA last month commended President Bush for what it calls a "pro-growth budget that emphasizes targeted spending."

Arab owned and affiliated grocery stores in the Middle East are boycotting products from Denmark in response to Danish newspapers' publishing of controversial cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Mohammed.

Groupe Danone, Paris, said last month that its profit almost tripled last year, helped by a gain on the sale of its sauces unit.

Horizon Organic has introduced a program to help New York dairy producers transition to organic. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton joined with the company in late January to unveil the Horizon Organic Producer Education (HOPE) Program.

Bruce Tharp was to be honored with a lifetime award at IDFA's Ice Cream Technology Conference early this month. Tharp, who along with Steve Young, writes a quarterly column for Dairy Foods, has been a part of the industry for more than 40 years.

Seems Anglo/Dutch Food and consumer products giant Unilever plan to stay in the ice cream game. News last month that it was shedding some of its frozen vegetable business was accompanied by a proclamation that it has no intention of getting rid of any of its ice cream lines, as had been rumored.

If PepsiCo can introduce flavored milk under the Quaker brand, then marketing a Cherry Garcia milk shake ought to be a snap. That seems to be the logic as the nation's No. 2 soft drink company has signed a multi-year U.S. licensing agreement with Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream to sell premium milkshakes.