Danone North America is a dairy behemoth — coming in at No. 4 on Dairy Foods’ 2020 Dairy 100 list of the largest dairy processors in North America. And it operates 13 plants to manufacture its many product lines. One of its largest — a 440,000-square-foot facility located in Minster, Ohio — is where the company produces Activia offerings, along with Danimals, Light + Fit, DanActive, Oikos, and Dannon.
Sonoma County, California, might be famous for its many wineries and picturesque redwood trees, but it's also home to a number of impressive dairy processing operations. One such operation, tucked into the small town of Sebastopol, is a creamery operated by Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery.
According to new research published by New York-based IBISWorld, the United States is home to more than 1,200 dairy processing businesses. With that many players in the industry, it can be difficult for one company to find ways to stand out.
Coming off a sluggish season with near-flat sales across yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese and cottage cheese, cultured dairy products are practicing new techniques in a bid for a World-Series season. The top priority at practice has been positioning the players for new consumption occasions.
When Lifeway Foods Inc. purchased the former Golden Guernsey fluid milk plant in Waukesha, Wis., at a bankruptcy auction in 2013, it faced an uphill battle in readying it for production of the company’s signature 32-ounce kefir line. Although the 157,000-square-foot, 60-plus-year-old facility had “good bones,” its former tenant had shut down very quickly with no exit plan.
About a decade ago, Greek yogurt was the game-changer in the U.S. cultured products space. But newer cultured dairy products are now providing some competition, and adding excitement to the dairy case.