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.

The USDA's Dairy Market News reports that that Process cheese sales are “strong” while Natural cheese sales are “off a little” in the Midwest. Overall, most manufacturers are “comfortable” with the current cheesemaking situation. 

Land O'Lakes said sales increases during the second quarter were achieved in all three core businesses, which include Dairy Foods, Crop Inputs (WinField) and Feed (Purina Animal Nutrition). First half sales were improved in all business segments, including Layers.

Dairy Foods is accepting nominations for the Tom Camerlo Exporter of the Year award, presented with the cooperation of the U.S. Dairy Exporter Council. The processor receives the Tom Camerlo Exporter of the Year trophy at USDEC's annual meeting. The company is also the subject of a feature article in the November issue of Dairy Foods.

The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association elected officers at its meeting this month.Sargento Foods Inc., Plymouth, Wis., promoted Kristi Jankowski to executive vice president of Innovation.

The magazine nominated 13 dairy processing plants that manufacture fluid milk, cheese, ice cream or cultured dairy products. All had been featured in Dairy Foods magazine and on dairyfoods.com over the previous 18 months. 

Rabobank says that dairy trade flows into the ASEAN-6 region (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) surpassed 1.6 million tonnes in 2012, equating to a 5.5 billion dollar export opportunity for producers. The region is one of the few remaining dairy battlegrounds, and the current boom in demand has triggered intense competition between international producers.