One size fits all never works. Dairies understand that consumers want options. That’s why milk processors offer the four fats (whole, 2%, 1% and nonfat), ice cream makers churn no-sugar-added varieties and cheesemakers cut their products into slices, chunks and shreds.

Beth Ford, the chief operating officer of the largest dairy co-op in the United States, talks about developing new cheese, butter and dessert products, and investing in manufacturing plants.

Dairy cooperative Land O’Lakes attracts employees who believe in agriculture and a mission of feeding a growing population, says COO Beth Ford. She elaborates in our All Things Dairy podcast.

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. 

Conveyors move raw materials and finished products through a dairy plant. After filling, packages might travel to secondary packaging stations, to freezers, to warehouses and to pallets.

The world was turned upside last month for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s winter south of the Equator where Brazil hosted the summer Olympics. That gave me a different perspective on current events.

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.

Just as Dairy Foods was wrapping up its research into the 100 largest dairy processors in North America, the French dairy giant Danone announced it was buying Colorado-based WhiteWave Foods, a processor of organic dairy and plant-based beverages.