Dean Foods said EVP and COO Ralph Scozzafava will succeed Gregg A. Tanner as CEO on Jan. 1, 2017. Milk Specialties Global acquires whey plant from Saputo in Wisconsin.

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. 

Roelli Cheese Co., Shullsburg, Wis., was named Best of Show at the 2016 American Cheese Society competition in Des Moines, Iowa, this summer

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. 

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.